Friday, May 9, 2025

San Luis Potosí: Mexico’s best kept secret

By
Louisa Rogers
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San Luis Potosí is one of Mexico's best kept secrets, and is filled with history, culture and Mexico's second-largest public park. (Depositphotos)

Strolling along San Luis Potosí’s tree-lined, pedestrianized street, the Calzada de Guadalupe, I pondered why I hadn’t seen a single foreign tourist in the city. San Luis, as the locals call it, is a beautiful town whose historic center was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2018. Made up of 42 streets, the downtown area is home to 500 historic monuments, Baroque and neoclassical structures and old stone manors that have been now been remodeled into museums, shops, and restaurants.

It’s hard to pick the very best that San Luis Potosí has to offer, but here are some of the highlights:

San Luis Potosí has some great examples of Baroque and neoclassical architecture. (Stephanie Hernández/Unsplash)

The Longest Pedestrian Street in the Americas

This two-mile walk is technically a number of different streets that have all become pedestrianized. The trail begins at the Hidalgo Market, continues to the Plaza de Armas – home of the neoclassical Metropolitan Cathedral – then along the shopping street of Zaragoza, and from there turns into the Calzada de Guadalupe, ending at the Basilica of Guadalupe. 

The Water Tank on the Calzada

The graceful neoclassical 19th century Caja de Agua (water tank), the last remaining reservoir in the city, stored water brought by the aqueduct. In that era, structures were obviously designed to be not just functional, but beautiful. Although the Caja de Agua had a rope cordoning it off, we enjoyed watching a bridal couple ignoring the barrier and having their photos taken in front of it. Near the water tank is a 19th-century statue of a water boy (El Aguador) carrying water in a terracotta jug to nearby houses.

The Leonora Carrington Museum

Towards the end of the Calzada is a long, low building with castle-like turrets and thick walls. It turns out it’s a former prison, now home to the Leonora Carrington Museum. Carrington was a British-born Mexican artist and one of the last great Surrealists of the twentieth century. 

Carrington’s path from London to Mexico City was a twisted one. She met the famous surrealist artist Max Ernst in London, and in 1937 they ran away together to France. When the war broke out, Ernst was arrested in Germany while Carrington escaped to Spain, where she had a mental breakdown. After she recovered, she went to the Mexican Embassy where Renato Leduc, the Mexican ambassador, agreed to a marriage of convenience with her so that she would be given immunity as a diplomat’s wife. The couple sailed for New York and later settled in Mexico City, where their marriage ended amicably. Carrington lived and worked mainly in Mexico for the rest of her life.

Leonora Carrington spent much of her career in Mexico, and chose the former prison to be a fitting site for her museum. (Museo Leonora Carrington)

In the museum, her bronze sculptures, often hybrid figures, half human and half animal, look bizarre, especially against the stark backdrop of a former prison. Hyenas, horses, crows, half-crocodiles, winged pigs, and giant women recur throughout her work. One sculpture shows a woman with an animal head wearing a long elegant gown. Her paintings tend to be dreamlike, steeped in myth, mysticism, and folklore. 

Why a museum dedicated to Carrington in San Luis Potosí, of all places? One of the museum staff told us that because of her history with mental illness, Carrington found the idea of a former prison housing her art appealing and oddly appropriate. Also, she was a friend of another Surrealist, fellow Brit Edward James, who lived in Xilitla, a pueblo mágico in the area of the state known as the Huasteca Potosina. In Xilitla, he designed a whimsical sculptural garden called Las Pozas.

The Basilica of Guadalupe

Just beyond the museum is the Basilica of Guadalupe, an important church for locals. December 12 is the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, a popular feast day that celebrates the anniversary of the appearance of the Virgin Mary, Mexico’s patron saint, in Mexico City. On that day, hundreds of faithful crawl for about a mile on their knees along the Calzada to the church.

Caravel-Shaped Crystal Chandelier, Basílica de Guadalupe
The impressive chandelier at the Basílica de Guadalupe is worth the visit on its own. (Barry Evans)

The church also houses one of two crystal ship chandeliers that hang in different local churches, with the other located in the nearby Church of San Francisco. The chandeliers, dating to 1788, were commissioned as a tribute by sailors who believed St. Francis saved them from a shipwreck. Shaped like a caravel, the boat used in Portuguese and Spanish colonial expeditions, they were originally donated to St. Francis’s church in Real de Catorce, an isolated mining town north of San Luis. Church authorities considered the chandeliers too important to be stuck in such a remote town and decided to move them to the state capital of San Luis Potosí.

Plaza de Carmen

A lovely place to hang out and watch people, the plaza is ringed with two museums, a theater and the Templo de Carmen (an example of Churrigueresque Baroque architecture. You can’t help but notice an eerie bronze sculpture, “El Cofrade” (the friar), which to Americans looks like a Ku Klux Klanner. The sculpture symbolizes one of the brothers who walks in the Procession of Silence, a solemn event held on Good Friday, beginning at the El Carmen Church and winding through the historic center. 

Tangamanga Park

Tangamanga is the second largest urban park in Mexico, after Chapultepec in Mexico City. “But it has more trees!” boasted our taxi driver. Indeed, the huge park has more trees than any park I’ve seen in Mexico, along with a lake and a two-mile paved trail for walking, running, and cycling.

An interesting detail about the park is that it has two water treatment plants for irrigation and its compost.

The Train Museum

If you’re a railway enthusiast, you’ll enjoy the kid-friendly train museum, the Museo del Ferrocarril, the best part of which is the trains themselves, which you can climb aboard. Check out the model train layout on the second floor.

Cerro de San Pedro

San Pedro was the site of the first discovery of gold and silver in the region in the 16th century. (Municipio Cerro de San Pedro)

The birthplace of San Luis, San Pedro is a tiny mining village 40 minutes from the city, where gold and silver were discovered in 1592. You can walk for miles and visit a mine. It’s mostly deserted during the week but can get crowded on weekends.

We were in San Luis Potosí for four nights, but could easily have spent a full week there, and I’m already looking forward to another visit.

Where to Stay

We stayed at the Gran Concordia, a mid-range hotel a block from the Plaza de Armas. Breakfast is available for an extra fee. It was amazing to go from the busy street scene, filled with vendors and musicians, and two minutes later be relaxing in the quiet oasis of our room.

Where to Eat

La Oruga y la Cebada is a family-style restaurant with a terrace restaurant. Great shrimp tacos.

La Posada del Virrey, on the Plaza de Armas, has both indoor and outdoor seating. We enjoyed the mojitos (which weren’t on the menu).

For early risers, Cafe Tokio, a typical Mexican (not Japanese!) restaurant with booths, opens at 7 am and offers generous Mexican breakfasts.

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

Claudia Sheinbaum talks security, water and more in El Financiero interview

By
MND Staff
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Presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum speaks at a recent campaign event in Ayala, Morelos.
Presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum speaks at a recent campaign event in Ayala, Morelos. (Galo Cañas/Cuartoscuro.com)

Just over seven weeks before voters go to the polls to elect a new president, leading candidate Claudia Sheinbaum of the ruling Morena party spoke to the El Financiero newspaper between campaign events earlier this week.

Here is an overview of the remarks the former Mexico City mayor made to journalist Salvador Camarena while traveling by car to an event in Amecameca, México state.

On the security situation in Mexico   

Sheinbaum, who polls show has a double digit lead over opposition bloc candidate Xóchitl Gálvez, acknowledged that crime and violence are a concern in parts of Mexico, but asserted that is not the case in the “majority” of the country.

She recognized that one state where insecurity is a problem is Guanajuato — Mexico’s most violent state in recent years in terms of total murders — but said that she hadn’t “perceived” fear among guanajuatenses, as residents are known, or Mexicans who live in states such as Jalisco and Michoacán, where crime is also a concern.

Gálvez is campaigning heavily on her pledge to establish a “Mexico without fear.”

Security operation in Chiapas
While candidate Gálvez regularly focuses on Mexico’s security shortfalls, Sheinbaum said healthcare and education are more urgent concerns. (Toño Aguilar / Cuartoscuro.com)

Sheinbaum said that access to healthcare and education are more pressing concerns for many Mexicans.

“In many places before [calling for] security, people shout at me, ‘a hospital! a school!’ she said.

“I’m not saying that [security] isn’t an issue on which we have to continue making progress, I don’t want to make light of [the problem], but this idea that Mexico is afraid and doesn’t want to go out to the street, I don’t agree with that perception,” Sheinbaum said, adding that the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has made progress in combating crime and reducing homicide rates.

“It will be up to us to do it more quickly, and we have to have a security strategy because there is organized crime in the country,” the Morena candidate said.

On whether she will be ‘independent’ of AMLO as president

“I’ve always said that I’m the one who is going to govern and I’m going to govern for the people of Mexico,” Sheinbaum said when Camarena put it to her that the people of Mexico want to know whether she will be free from the influence of AMLO, her political mentor and former boss when she served as Mexico City environment minister in the early 2000s.

“I hope that the people of Mexico feel represented by me, that’s the objective. … President López Obrador is a very respectful man. He never spoke to me by telephone when I was mayor to tell me [what to do], to give me an instruction. Never,” she said.

The president commented on the controversy at his Monday morning press conference.
Though she is running on a platform of continuity, Sheinbaum has also made efforts to differentiate herself from President López Obrador. (Lopezobrador.org.mx)

On renewable energy

“I dedicated myself to energy [matters] for years,” said Sheinbaum, a physicist and environmental scientist who worked with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

“I always thought that renewable energy had to be promoted, so we’re going to try to accelerate the energy transition in the country,” she said while responding to a question about how she would differ from AMLO as president.

On water

“I believe resources and time have to be dedicated to decontaminating the country’s rivers … and … other bodies of water,” Sheinbaum said.

“… I’m a scientist, on many of the issues I’m going to have scientists working with me. For example, on the issue of water [scarcity], which is one of the country’s big issues,” she said.

On her plan to perpetuate the ‘transformation’ of Mexico initiated by AMLO

Asked whether she and the Morena party would shift to the political center should she be sworn in as president on Oct. 1, Sheinbaum pledged that the “transformation” of Mexico will continue under her leadership.

Indeed she is already the official leader of the “fourth transformation” (4T) political project López Obrador started when he became president in late 2018.

AMLO and Claudia Sheinbaum
The president handed over the baton – literally – of his “Fourth Transformation” to Morena 2024 candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum, on Thursday night. (MARIO JASSO/CUARTOSCURO.COM)

Sheinbaum said that under her leadership, Mexico will continue to have a government that:

  • is “dedicated to those who have the least.”
  • is “austere.”
  • has “fiscal and financial discipline.”
  • “defends the autonomy of the Bank of Mexico.”
  • is honest.

“We’re going to defend our project of transformation of the country,” the presidential aspirant reiterated.

On whether she will continue AMLO’s tradition of holding press conferences every weekday

Sheinbaum said she didn’t know whether she would hold daily mañaneras, as López Obrador’s lengthy pressers are colloquially known, but stressed that she is “convinced” that there is a need to have “direct communication with the people.”

The media “serves a function, but there also has to be direct communication,” she added.

On the case of the 43 missing students 

Sheinbaum predicted that, in the 5 1/2 months it has left in office, the current government will make a lot of progress toward solving the almost 10-year-old case involving the abduction and presumed murder of 43 young men who were studying at the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College in Guerrero.

If the case isn’t resolved by the time AMLO leaves office, “we’ll finish it,” she said.

Family members of the Ayotzinapa victims
The unresolved case of 43 student teachers who disappeared in 2014 still haunts family members of the disappeared. (Cuartoscuro)

“It’s a wound for Mexico and the only way to close a wound is to by having justice, truth and justice,” Sheinbaum said.

More election reading 

Want to read more about the June 2 elections at which Mexicans will not only elect a new president, but also state governors, mayors and thousands of municipal, state and federal officials?

Take a look at these Mexico News Daily articles.

With reports from El Financiero

Who is the 22-year-old Mexican amateur who is playing at the 2024 Masters?

By
MND Staff
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Mexican amateur golfer Santiago de la Fuente
Mexican amateur golfer Santiago de la Fuente. (Andrea Murcia)

Santiago de la Fuente, a 22-year-old golfer from the city of Guadalajara, made his Masters debut this week, just three months after earning an invitation by winning the Latin American Amateur Championship.

The University of Houston senior — just the sixth Mexican golfer to play in the Masters, the most prestigious golf tournament in the United States — is on a roll this year after earning honorable mention All-America honors as a junior last year.

The road to the Masters

In February, De la Fuente was tied for ninth after two rounds of the PGA’s annual Mexico Open, played this year at the Vidanta Vallarta course in the Pacific Coast state of Nayarit. He was the top-finishing amateur in the tournament, tying for 46th.

De la Fuente won the LatAm Amateur — held at the Santa María Golf Club in Panama in January — by 2 strokes over Omar Morales thanks to a final-round score of 64 that earned him his spot in the Masters. Second-place finisher Morales, a 21-year-old from the state of Puebla, is a member of the UCLA golf team.

The win in Panama also earned De la Fuente invitations to play in this year’s U.S. Open and the British Open.

Santiago de la Fuente poses with a Mexican flag and a banner reading "Mexico Open"
De la Fuente had a strong performance at the PGA’s Mexico Open in February. (Mexico Open at Vidanta/Facebook)

Golf Monthly magazine profiled De la Fuente this week in an article entitled “Santiago De la Fuente Facts: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Amateur Star.”

Among the tidbits Golf Monthly shared: Santiago started golfing at the age of 3 and played in his first tournament at the age of 9.

De la Fuente’s Masters debut

At the Masters on Thursday, De la Fuente shot an opening round 76 — 4 over par — after his start time was pushed back 2-and-a-half hours due to a weather delay.

“I was a little nervous on the first tee, but after that things flowed rather well,” De la Fuente said afterward, according to newspaper Milenio. “At the end of the day, golf is golf and we’re not always going to get the desired result.”

“I struck the ball well but I started to feel uncomfortable on the back 9 and unfortunately, I finished poorly.”

The Jalisco native had a rough start to his second round, suffering a triple-bogey on the third hole before finishing with a 6-over par 78, leaving him at 10-over for the tournament, and well outside the projected cut of 4-over.

Augusta National Golf Course aerial view
The 2024 Masters are taking place at the course of the Augusta National Golf Club, seen here. (Masters)

De la Fuente played the Masters course five times before his debut, the most recent being a research mission to prepare him for the tournament.

“I was just doing homework for the tournament,” De La Fuente told Amateur Golf magazine. “I was not really playing, but I was taking a lot of notes and learning where to hit it.”

The other five Mexicans to play at Augusta National are: Juan Antonio Estrada (1962, 1963, 1964), Víctor Regalado (1975, 1979), Álvaro Ortiz (2019), his brother Carlos Ortiz (2021) and Abraham Ancer (2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023).

Ancer boasts the best performance by a Mexican at the Masters, finishing in 13th place with an 8-under-par 280 in 2020.

With reports from Milenio

Volvo to build truck manufacturing plant in Mexico

By
MND Staff
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A Volvo truck driving down a highway
According to a company statement, the Mexico plant will support the growth plans of both Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks in the U.S. and Canadian markets. (Volvo Group)

Swedish manufacturer Volvo announced on Thursday its plans to build a plant to begin manufacturing heavy-duty trucks in Mexico by 2026.

The company did not reveal where the new plant will be built, saying in a press release that it will manufacture trucks in Mexico “to support the growth plans of both Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks in the U.S. and Canadian markets, and to support Mack Truck sales in Mexico and Latin America.”

Mack trucks
The new plant will focus exclusively on building heavy-duty conventional vehicles for the Volvo and Mack brands. (Wikimedia Commons)

Volvo Group, based in Gothenburg, Sweden, owns Mack Trucks, a U.S. automaker based in Greensboro, North Carolina. This will be its first truck manufacturing facility in Mexico.

The new 1.7 million-square-foot plant  will be “a complete conventional vehicle assembly facility,” the company said. The new plant will focus exclusively on building heavy-duty conventional vehicles for the Volvo and Mack brands.

While the Volvo Group declared that the company’s Mack LVO plant in Pennsylvania and its Volvo NRV plant in Virginia will remain the company’s primary North American production sites, the factory in Mexico will “deliver logistical efficiencies for supporting sales to the southwestern/western regions of the United States, and to Mexico and Latin America.”

The announcement was met with dismay by the United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union in the United States.

“We are extremely disappointed in Volvo’s decision to build a class 8 plant in Mexico as our local leadership have been working closely with local and state government officials to build a state-of-the-art plant in [Pennsylvania],” the union stated in a letter, according to WFMZ news.

Over the past five years, Volvo has invested more than US $73 million to expand operations at its Pennsylvania plant and earlier announced plans to spend US $80 million for future production there. In addition, the company is completing a US $400 million expansion at its Virginia plant ahead of the release of the new Volvo VNL model.

The Volvo press release did not reveal how much the company planned to invest in its new plant in Mexico.

Volvo’s first-quarter results won’t be available until later this month, but the company reported a 10% increase in fourth-quarter sales for last year.

With reports from Milenio and Freight Waves

Peso loses momentum against the US dollar, after hitting strongest rate since 2015

By
MND Staff
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Mexican peso bill and US dollar bills
After hitting its strongest exchange rate against the dollar since 2015, the Mexican peso depreciated on Friday morning. (Isabel Mateos/Cuartoscuro)

Four days after appreciating to its strongest level against the US dollar in almost nine years, the Mexican peso declined sharply on Friday morning before making up some of the ground it lost.

Bloomberg data shows that the peso’s exchange rate weakened to as low as 16.74 on Friday morning before slightly recovering to trade at 16.66 at midday Mexico City time.

Peso bills
The Mexican peso has strengthened against the US dollar so far this year, but is predicted to weaken by the end of 2024. (Cuartoscuro)

The weaker position represented a 1.8% decline for the peso compared to its closing position of 16.44 to the dollar on Thursday, and a 2.6% tumble compared to the 16.30 level it reached on Monday.

Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis at Mexican bank Banco Base, said on the X social media platform that the peso was depreciating due to the “expectation” that the United States Federal Reserve won’t start cutting its key interest rate until November.

Data published earlier this week showed that inflation in the U.S. rose more than expected in March, reaching 3.5% from 3.2% in February.

Janneth Quiroz, director of analysis at the Monex financial group, noted on X that the peso was affected by a general strengthening of the U.S. dollar on Friday.

The DXY index, which measures the value of the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies, was up around 0.7% at midday.

Foreign exchange news website FX Street reported that the DXY index had hit its highest level since November earlier on Friday.

“The index’s upward movement is largely driven by rising U.S. yields and a hot inflation data environment that favors the U.S. dollar. In addition, Federal Reserve officials expressed fewer possibilities for rate cuts this year, and an increase in hawkish bets is another driver boosting the currency,” FX Street said.

The peso has benefited for an extended period from the vast difference between the official interest rate in Mexico — currently 11% — and that in the U.S., currently 5.25%-5.5%.

The Bank of Mexico (Banxico) made its first interest rate cut in more than three years in March, and is expected to deliver four more in 2024, according to Siller.

In another post on X, the Banco Base analyst said that the market at the start of the year expected the Fed to make three interest rate cuts in 2024.

“Now, two are expected,” Siller wrote, adding that “it wouldn’t be strange” if, in a few days, just one rate cut from the Fed comes to be expected, considering how much expectations have changed.

The differential between interest rates in Mexico and the U.S. declined by 25 basis points last month, and will narrow further if the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) makes additional cuts before the Fed makes an initial one. Such a scenario could lead to a weakening of the peso, although Banxico’s cut last month didn’t negatively impact the peso’s exchange rate.

There are a range of other factors benefiting the peso including strong incoming flows of remittances and an increase in foreign direct investment in Mexico as the nearshoring trend gathers strength.

Mexico News Daily

US launches Operation Plaza Spike, in ‘next phase’ of fighting fentanyl

By
MND Staff
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U.S. CBP officer with seized fentanyl
The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol announced the launch of Operation Plaza Spike on Thursday, targeting fentanyl smuggling through Sonora into Arizona. (CBP Troy Miller/X)

The United States government is ramping up its fight against the entry of illegal fentanyl  from Mexico with a new law enforcement operation that will target the illicit activities of cartel leaders known as plaza bosses.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Wednesday that it will lead Operation Plaza Spike, “an expanded, multi-agency effort to target the transnational criminals funneling fentanyl from Mexico into American communities.”

Screen capture of press conference
Senior U.S. CBP official Troy A. Miller speaks at the Wednesday press conference on Operation Plaza Spike. (Screen capture)

According to CBP, Operation Plaza Spike is “designed to disrupt operations in the ‘plazas,’ cartel territories located directly south of the United States that are natural logistical chokepoints within the cartels’ operations.”

The CBP described the operation as a “next phase” or “next step” in its Strategy to Combat Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Drugs.

“Operation Plaza Spike will employ multiple tactics, including seizing illicit proceeds and scrutinizing related cross-border business entities and cross-border trade. Operation Plaza Spike includes releasing the name of the plazas’ senior ranking cartel officials, the ‘plaza bosses,’ to increase public and law enforcement pressure on them,” the agency said.

“… CBP will leverage partnerships, authorities, and resources of other government agencies in our efforts to gather intelligence, disrupt and degrade illicit operations, and deliver legal consequences.”

Fentanyl pills in bags
Nogales, Arizona is considered a major point of entry for fentanyl into the U.S.; pictured here are over 33,000 pills found strapped to a smuggler’s body in an attempted crossing in February. (CBP Troy Miller/X)

The first target of the new operation is the “Nogales Plaza,” located south of Nogales, Arizona, in the state of Sonora. U.S. authorities say that the Sinaloa Cartel boss of that plaza is Sergio Valenzuela Valenzuela, a 54-year-old alleged criminal known as “Gio,” “El Gigio” and “Yiyo.”

Valenzuela “heads the plaza responsible for the most fentanyl heading to the U.S.,” the CBP said in an Operation Plaza Spike fact sheet, asserting that “he and his organization are responsible for 44% of the fentanyl being trafficked to the U.S., the deadliest drug we have yet to encounter.”

The CBP noted that he was indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury in 2018 for his role as a Sinaloa Cartel plaza boss.

Troy A. Miller, the CBP’s top official, said that while Valenzuela “is the first plaza boss that we target,” he “won’t be the last.”

Sergio Valenzuela was indicted by a U.S. grand jury in 2018 for drug trafficking. The CBP says Valenzuela and his organization are responsible for 44%  of fentanyl smuggled into the U.S. (DEA)

“Just as the men and women of CBP are steadfast in the fight against fentanyl, we will be unrelenting in our pursuit of those people and organizations that threaten the safety and security of our people and our country,” he said.

The CBP said that Plaza Spike will also limit “the number of illegal weapons headed southbound into the hands of the cartels.”

Mexico has long been pushing the U.S. to do more to stop the southward flow of weapons, many of which end up in the hands of members of notoriously violent cartels.

For his part, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said Wednesday that Operation Plaza Spike is “a critical step in our ongoing whole-of-department campaign to directly attack the transnational criminal organizations that peddle narcotics, death, and destruction for profit.”

“We are sparing no effort to dismantle cartels and ensure everyone from kingpins to plaza bosses are brought to justice,” he said.

According to the CBP, there are 27 different cartel “plazas,” many of which are located “directly south of a U.S. border crossing.”

Plaza bosses, the agency said, are “high-ranking cartel officials who control all illicit activity through the plaza” including “extortion, kidnapping, and the trafficking of humans, dangerous drugs, and firearms.”

The CBP said that Valenzuela and his organization are allegedly responsible for moving “thousands of pounds of fentanyl to the U.S. border.”

“Nearly every day, CBP officers intercept fentanyl headed from Valenzuela Valenzuela’s plaza northbound through CBP ports of entry onward to cities across the United States,” it said.

FBI director: “We need much more” from Mexico to combat fentanyl 

A day after the CBP announced its new operation, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Christopher Wray, spoke about U.S. cooperation with Mexico in the fight against fentanyl, which has caused overdose deaths of tens of thousands of Americans annually in recent years.

“We’re working with our partners on the other side of the border and there I would say it’s very uneven. We’ve had some instances where we’ve had a key arrest, an extradition, a key operation – we’ve started to work with vetted teams down there which is an important effort in the right direction, but we need much, much more than we’re getting from the Mexican government,” he said during an appearance before a House Appropriations subcommittee.

Christopher Wray, FBI director at a congressional appearance
FBI Director Christopher Wray said the U.S. needs “much more” from Mexico in the fight against illicit fentanyl in a congressional hearing on Thursday. (Screen capture)

The Mexican government has said on repeated occasions that it is fully committed to the fight against fentanyl and is doing all it can to stop the flow of the powerful synthetic opioid into the U.S.

But Wray described Mexico’s efforts to combat fentanyl as a “mixed bag.”

“There are individual instances that are bright spots. But this is such a big problem. We need consistent, sustained, scalable assistance from them,” he said.

Other U.S. officials have publicly praised Mexico for its security cooperation, including in the fight against fentanyl.

At bilateral security talks last October, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “more than ever before” in his 30 years of experience in foreign policy, “the United States and Mexico are working together as partners in common purpose.”

The following month, during a meeting with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in San Francisco, U.S. President Joe Biden declared that “nothing is beyond our reach in my view when Mexico and the United States stand together and work together, as we’ve been doing.”

With reports from Infobae and The Hill 

Opinion: 4 key opportunities for the North American economy

By
Pedro Casas Alatriste
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North American leaders at the 2023 North American Leaders' Summit
Jill Biden, Joe Biden, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, Justin Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau at Mexico's National Palace for the 2023 North American Leaders' Summit. (Galo Cañas/Cuartoscuro)

Official data recently published by the Economy Ministry (SE) shows that 2023 set a record for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Mexico. Mexico experienced a 27% growth in FDI flows compared to the previous year, with US $36.06 billion in investments, predominantly driven by the United States. The U.S. accounted for 40% of Mexico’s FDI in 2023, which is 3.5 times higher than the next country of FDI origin, Spain. This marks the beginning of a new era in North American economic integration. What can we expect in the years ahead?

As the head of the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico, a significant part of my role is to listen and understand the needs and opportunities that CEOs of American companies with investments in Mexico foresee in the Mexican economy. In an effort to summarize months of listening and analyzing, these are the four key industries and investment enablers that could maximize North America’s potential as the world’s economic powerhouse.

The sun sets on the Torre Mayor and other skyscrapers in Colonia Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City.
The U.S. accounted for 40% of Mexico’s FDI in 2023, when FDI in Mexico reached a record high. (Carlos Aranda/Unsplash)

The four industries that could maximize the North American economy

Regarding key industries, North America must seize the opportunity to strengthen its production of medical devices and health-related goods and services, semiconductors, agroindustry and, obviously, electromobility.

This stems from global shifts in power, geopolitical realignments, national and regional security threats, as well as consumer-based needs in the 21st century.

Without delving into great detail, the pandemic underscored the need for less dependence on distant countries for health-related supplies. U.S.-China tensions and the high concentration of semiconductor production in Taiwan raised awareness about the risks of relying on one tiny island with high political uncertainty for over 60% of today’s semiconductors. Climate change and the Russia-Ukraine war further emphasized the importance of regional food self-sufficiency (as well as energy). Lastly, North America has been an automotive industrial hub for decades, and now it’s time for a significant shift in the transportation and mobility industries: electromobility. North America will and must remain the world’s top producer of these goods.

This all seems evident, with markets and governments working to foster integration into a more secure and reliable regional economy, as evidenced by the record levels of FDI in Mexico last year. Nevertheless, there are bumps in the road ahead.

At AmCham, we’ve identified several investment enablers that, if handled correctly and opportunistically, could propel the North American Era exponentially. If not, many opportunities could slip through our hands.

A automated care production line inside a factory
Electromobility is a major area of opportunity for the North American economy, with Mexico set up to become a leading EV manufacturer. (BYD)

Top investment enablers for North American growth

For us, the most crucial investment enablers for the North American economy are: i) energy (infrastructure, capacity and the transition towards clean energy); ii) water (industrial use, conscious use and supply); iii) security and rule of law; iv) infrastructure (border infrastructure, telecommunications, fiber optics, cyber, railways, highways and ports); and last but not least, v) human capital (workforce development, upskilling and reskilling). Overall, we believe these enablers build a solid foundation for a sustainable economic ecosystem.

To achieve this, the worst thing we could do is expect others to do it for us.

It is not solely the responsibility of the United States government, the Mexican government, the private sector, civil society, FDI or any single entity. Now more than ever, we, as North Americans, need to tackle this together as allies, friends and partners. 

We must establish a coordinated regional industrial policy between governments and the private sector. We must ensure that society actively participates to strengthen our democracies and institutions. And we need to have a shared vision for the future.

By 2026, all eyes will be on us as a region. The North American FIFA World Cup will be the most-watched sports event in history (with more than a billion viewers worldwide). The USMCA revision will also occur that year. We have to ensure that 2026 is the year when North America portrays itself as a united, trusted and coordinated region — not the other way around.

Pedro Casas Alatriste is currently the Executive Vice President and CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico (AmCham). Previously, he served as the Director of Research and Public Policy at the US-Mexico Foundation in Washington, D.C., where he promoted issues such as Ally-Shoring, immigration in Mexico, integration of the binational workforce and regional competitiveness, among others. Before this role, he was the Coordinator of International Affairs at the Business Coordinating Council (CCE).

Tacos de canasta: The king of Mexican street food

By
Ana Paula De la Torre
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2
The humble taco de canasta has been fuelling hungry Mexicans for more than a century. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)

You can usually identify them by the basket and the giant blue plastic bag that covers them: the taco de canasta — literally “basket taco” — is one of the kings of tacos in Mexico. You can also tell tacos de canasta by the fact that the sellers usually carry the basket on a bicycle and ride around the cities where they’re sold, and even some rural areas, hawking their wares.

This type of taco is easily recognizable by its small size and it is one of the most popular tacos in the country, in no small part because it is super affordable for many people — but their low price does not mean poor quality. And that’s where their charm lies: tacos de canasta are simply delicious and consistent in taste, making them a guaranteed delight to eat.

Tacos de canasta are a Mexico lunchtime staple for busy workers, as they are quick to eat and always hot. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)

Normally made with stewed potatoes, chicharrón or beans — known as guisos in Spanish — these tacos are a must when you’re hungry because they are really filling. One of their more important qualities is their accompanying sauces: you can usually ask for spicy green or red salsa, pickled chilis or guacamole.

Another peculiarity of tacos de canasta is the system used to keep them warm, as each medium basket holds between 100 and 150 tacos, and large baskets can hold up to 200 tacos. 

If you’re wondering what exactly we mean when we say the “system” that keeps them warm, we are referring to the fact that a layer of tacos is laid down, then a layer of onion and sometimes dried chilies and both layers are bathed in hot lard or adobo, with additional layers added until the basket is complete. The process of making them begins the night before, with the chef cooking the potatoes, beans and other ingredients for the stew, before finishing the preparation the next morning.

A brief history of tacos de canasta

Apolonio Piedra Sánchez was born 60 years ago in San Vicente Xiloxochitla, Tlaxcala, the same place where the classic tacos de canasta themselves are originally from.

Apolonio Piedra Sánchez in front of the Monumento a la Revolución in Mexico City, where he sells his tacos de canasta. (Ana Paula de la Torre)

He grew up making and selling tacos de canasta as a way of life. His story, and that of his family, is completely linked to the story of this dish. The practice of selling tacos out of a basket has existed for a long time of course, but the special method we know today was born in the early 20th century.

“We are from San Vicente Xiloxochitla. My whole family is from there. The tradition of making and selling tacos de canasta started with my grandfather, then continued with my father, and now with me,” Apolonio says.

When we asked Apolonio what makes tacos de canasta so special, he explained that the secret lies in the seasoning, including the marinades for the beans, chicharrón, potatoes and adobo.

In the 20th century, many taqueros traveled to Mexico City from other states — especially from Tlaxcala — to sell tacos. Nowadays, Apolonio says, people prepare tacos de canasta in states across Mexico.

The basics of making tacos de canasta

Keen to try your own tacos de canasta, but can’t find a street seller? Try this simple but delicious recipe. (Joaquín Sanluis/Cuartoscuro)

Want to make your own tacos de canasta? Today we are going to give you the basic recipe so you can. 

The first thing you’ll need to know is that there are two salsas in this process: one that is spread on the tortillas and one that accompanies your tacos — the latter is up to you. You will, of course, need a basket!

For the tacos

  • 1 kilo tortillas)
  • Guisos of your preference (potato, chicharrón, beans)

For the salsa you’ll spread on all the tortillas

  • 4 guajillo chilis, seeded 
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 3/4 liters of cooking oil

1/2 onion

  1. Put the chilis, onion, and garlic in a frying pan to roast until they take on a charred color.
  2. Once roasted, in the same pan, add a little oil and fry for 5 minutes.
  3. After frying, put everything in the blender, add salt to taste and the remaining oil.
  4. Transfer the blended mixture to a pot and heat very slowly until boiling.
  5. While the salsa is boiling, start filling your tortillas with the guiso of your preference. Fold and place in the basket, layering with onion slices.  Spoon in boiling oil until you have the desired tacos.
  6. Once you finish arranging and bathing your tacos, close the basket and let it rest for 60 minutes.
  7. Serve with salsa to taste.

Enjoy your meal!

Ana Paula de la Torre is a Mexican journalist and collaborator for various outlets including Milenio, Animal Político, Vice, Newsweek en Español, Televisa and Mexico News Daily.

Mexico’s ‘Valley of Candles’: A coast-to-coast trek in Baja California

By
John Pint
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8
The Baja California Coast-to-Coast trail offers hikers the chance to explore some of Mexico's most underappreciated stretches of nature. (Photos by John Pint)

In 1685, Franciscan missionary, explorer, cartographer and astronomer Padre Eusebio Kino led the first non-indigenous expedition across the width of Baja California, through the high walls and treacherous canyons of La Sierra de la Giganta.

Today you can repeat Kino’s feat—but via a much more hiker-friendly route—thanks to an organization called Adixion, which operates out of Mexicali. Their Coast to Coast trail is 111 kilometers long and is perhaps the most popular of very few organized trekking routes to be found in Mexico.

Valle de los Cirios is a perfect example of Baja California’s Pacific landscape. (Karen Alfaro)

Retired Guadalajara businessman Hector Casas walked this trail last year and claims it was one of the best experiences of his life.

“So what’s so special about trekking in Baja California?” I asked him.

“Baja California has always been one of my favorite places,” Casas replied. “Just for starters, take the Sea of Cortez. Jacques Cousteau called it the World’s Aquarium. Its turquoise waters are filled with thousands of amazing and rare species of sea creatures. But in addition to marine life, I love the desert, the cacti, the dunes. So I decided to give this route a try, to see if I could walk all the way from one coast to the other.

Surrounded by spectacular mountains and a salty lake

“I found out that Adixion Tours organizes the walk every year in November. They only do it in the winter because in the summer the temperature in the peninsula can reach 45 Celsius (113 Fahrenheit). In the winter, however, it’s a pleasant 24 C (75 F), with partly cloudy skies and even a bit of drizzle.”

Héctor Casas walked the trail in 2023 – and is ready to do it again this year.

Participants in the trek typically fly to Tijuana and travel to Mexicali by bus via what Casas describes as a “beautiful route through the Rumorosa Mountains, which are really spectacular on the Mexican side.”

Step two is a four-hour trip by bus and four-wheel-drive which passes through Baja’s celebrated Laguna Salada (Salty Lake) situated ten meters below sea level, finally arriving at the trek’s Kilometer Zero: Altamira Beach on the Pacific Coast.

“Here,” says Casas, “we found our tents already pitched for us and a great dinner to boot. I was surprised to find that one hundred people had signed up to do this trek. The next morning, after a delicious breakfast, we all went to touch the water of the Pacific Ocean and at 7:00 a.m. we started to walk.

50 kilometers of “la pura gloria”

“The trail is well marked. There’s no chance of getting lost, which is important because sometimes you find yourself walking all alone with no one else in sight ahead or behind. This trek was so well organized, I never had to carry anything on my back but water and I really didn’t need it because every five kilometers they have a checkpoint set up, with fruit and drinks, and at certain points there’s even a tent with paramedics ready to take care of possible blisters or whatever. So at each of these spots I would stop, take off my shoes and socks, and enjoy the refreshments. It was la pura gloria, pure glory! That’s how it went the first day and at 6:30 p.m. I arrived at the Mission of San Borja, 50 kilometers from my starting point.”

Trekkers around the campfire, relaxing in comfort with hot water and great food.

5-star hotel in the desert

Here the weary trekkers found their tents set up for them, each containing all their personal gear. At San Borja they could take a shower and then enjoy a fine dinner, such as spaghetti, fettucini, or fish fillets. Vegetarians, vegans, or anyone with a special diet could expect a meal designed just for them. “As far as I was concerned,” said Casas, “this was a five-star hotel in the desert.”

“The next morning we were back on the trail at 7:00,” continues Casas. “Everyone was friendly and I would sometimes chat with them or other times I would just appreciate the scenery by myself and enjoy moments of introspection.”

El cirio: the strangest tree on earth

On this second day, the trekkers entered El Valle de los Cirios (The Valley of the Candles) a wildlife protection area famed for what is often considered the strangest tree on earth: the “cirio” or “boojum” tree, a magnificent succulent — said to resemble an upside-down carrot — which can grow to an astonishing height of 26 meters (85 feet).

According to the international organization Wildcoast, Valle de los Cirios is globally unique: “There may be no other place that embodies the wild Pacific coastal landscapes of the Baja California peninsula than Valle de los Cirios… With some luck and a lot of patience, a visitor can catch glimpses of mule deer, kit foxes, bobcats, and stealthy mountain lions that wander among the giant Cardon cactus and fantastical cirios or boojum trees.”

Cirios or boojum trees in the distance, which give the valley its name. (Héctor Casas)

A sky filled with stars

Trekkers who found the going difficult also found an easy solution to their problem. All they had to do is wait for a barredora, (a sweeper). This was a four-wheel-drive vehicle that would pick up those who no longer wanted to walk. “We all understood,” said Casas, “that this was no competition, but rather a personal challenge. No one cared who arrived first.”

Entranced by the bizarre forest of boojum trees, the trekkers arrived at Agua de Higueras, “a little valley in the middle of nowhere, with no one to be seen but us trekkers.” Here the participants enjoyed a sky full of stars along with a spectacular display of meteorites. In this remote spot there was no cell phone service, but the tour organizers used satellite phones to communicate with the outside world.

“I couldn’t resist poking my head out of my tent at 2:00 in the morning, just for another look at that incredible sky,” says Casas.

The next day, a final 30-kilometer walk brought the trekkers to the Bay of Los Angeles on the Sea of Cortez… and a good night’s sleep in a real bed.

“I loved this trek,” said Hector Casas with a wistful look in his eye. “I loved it so much that I’ve signed up to do it again this coming November!”

If you’d like more information on the upcoming 2024 trek, visit the Baja Coast to Coast website.

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.

Mexico City awaits lab results in water contamination mystery

By
MND Staff
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0
Mexicans examining bottles of drinking water
Mexico City residents take bottles of drinking water from a distribution point in the Benito Juárez neighborhood, where a mysterious contamination of the water supply has occurred. (Cuartoscuro)

Residents suspected gasoline. Mexico City officials say that industrial oils and lubricants are to blame. But President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) affirmed on Thursday that the substance that contaminated the water supply in the Benito Juárez borough of the capital is not yet known.

How the contaminant got into the water supply in the first place is still a mystery as well.

Workers peering down a well in Mexico City
Mexico City employees work on cleanup of the Alfonso XIII well in the city’s Álvaro Obregón borough, which has been determined to be contaminated with chemicals of “unknown” origin. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)

Residents of several Benito Juárez neighborhoods began complaining of foul-smelling water in late March. Mexico City Mayor Marti Batrés confirmed on Monday that the water supply had been contaminated, and on Tuesday night the National Guard closed off a well in the neighboring borough of Álvaro Obregón that was identified as the source of the contamination.

At López Obrador’s morning press conference on Thursday, a reporter noted that there has been speculation that the theft of fuel from pipelines — a common crime in Mexico — could have caused the contamination.

AMLO responded that an investigation is underway, noting that both the Mexico City government and the state oil company Pemex are seeking to identify the cause. He said that “chemical substances” had been detected in the well that was closed off, but added that “it is not yet known” what they are.

“I believe that today there will be more clarity about what is causing the contamination of this well, which, of course, was closed,” López Obrador said.

Mayor Batres spoke about the water problem later on Thursday but didn’t say that the cause of the contamination had been determined. He previously ruled out the possibility that gasoline contaminated the water supply.

“Analyses carried out to date rule out the presence of gasoline,” he said Tuesday, adding that no explosion risk had been detected.

Mexico City protesters holding signs demanding clean water
Benito Juárez residents, who have been complaining of the “foul-smelling” water since late March, protest the lack of a solution to the problem on Wednesday. (Cuartoscuro)

Mexico City Risk Management and Civil Protection Minister Myriam Urzúa reiterated Thursday that a “lubricant or oil” caused the contamination and said that the government will receive lab results identifying the substance next week.

“We have absolute certainty that it isn’t gasoline,” she said.

López Obrador told reporters that Pemex pipelines near the contaminated well were being checked for leaks, but noted that “nothing” had been found so far.

“That doesn’t mean that the possibility of there being a leak has been ruled out,” he said before noting that earthquakes in the area — recent “microquakes” have affected Álvaro Obregón — could have ruptured pipelines. AMLO also acknowledged that a pipeline tap by thieves could be the cause.

Asked about the possibility of sabotage, he responded:

“There are those who say that there could have been the intention to throw fuel in the well. There is no evidence for that.”

López Obrador also said that the most important thing is to protect the safety of citizens and ensure that there is no risk of an explosion and a resultant “tragedy.” Fuel pipeline taps have caused a number of fatal explosions in Mexico, including one in Hidalgo in 2019 that claimed 137 lives.

Mayor defends Mexico City government’s response 

Mayor Batres said on the X social media platform on Thursday that the Mexico City government responded promptly to the “water problem” in the northwestern part of Benito Juárez.

The city government has been criticized for an allegedly slow response to the situation, but Batres wrote that authorities have been “helping” in a range of ways since the problem was first reported. He said they have assessed the risk of an explosion with combustible gas detectors, carried out “health visits,” supplied free drinking water to affected residents and conducted safety “verifications of establishments.”

Meanwhile, the local governments in Benito Juárez and Álvaro Obregón have done “nothing” to help the Mexico City government, said Batres, who represents the Morena party. The local authorities — headed by opposition-party mayors — have instead focused on political point-scoring, he said.

Mexico City Mayor Marti Batres
Mexico City Mayor Martí Batres said that the city government has reacted swiftly to provide residents with safe water. (Martí Batres/X)

Benito Juárez residents continue to protest 

Residents affected by the contamination set up a blockade on Insurgentes Avenue — Mexico City’s longest road — for a third consecutive day on Thursday. Their protest affected traffic, including Metrobús services, along a section of Insurgentes Sur, as the southern end of the avenue is known.

The Sin Embargo news website reported that protesters — who have demanded to meet with the Mexico City water chief — shouted, “We want a solution” and “We want clean water.”

Some residents turned up to the protest with samples of the contaminated water in bottles. The water was brown and smelled of gasoline or insecticide, Sin Embargo said.

Mexico City residents generally don’t drink tap water, but they do, of course, bathe in it and use it to wash dishes and clothes. Some Benito Juárez residents have reported skin and eye problems due to contact with the contaminated water.

Civil protection minister: contamination will continue for another two weeks

Urzúa said in a radio interview on Thursday that residents in affected Benito Juárez neighborhoods, including Del Valle, Nápoles and Nochebuena can expect to have contaminated water coming out of their faucets for another two weeks — even though the apparent source of the contamination has been closed off.

“An obvious recommendation is to drink water from another source,” she said.

Mexico City workers distributing 20 gallon bottles of water to Benito Juarez residents
Residents will likely be dealing with unsafe tap water for another two weeks, said city civil protection and risk management official Miriam Urzúa. (Martí Batres/X)

Urzúa said that the “intensity” of the contamination will decrease over time because contaminated water is no longer entering the water system.

She also said that the government has sufficient garrafones — 20-liter bottles of water — to hand out to all residents who ask for them. Some residents picked up bottles at the San Lorenzo park in Del Valle on Thursday.

The contamination of the water supply in Benito Juárez adds to Mexico City’s water problems. Water scarcity is a major concern in the capital, and supply is already unreliable or nonexistent in some parts of the city.

Benito Juárez, however, has generally had a dependable supply of water — that didn’t reek of gasoline until, suddenly, in late March, it did.

With reports from Sin Embargo, Aristegui Noticias, El Financiero, Dinero en Imágen and Excélsior

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