The National Meteorological Service (SMN) has announced five predicted heat waves for the first half of 2024. (CONAGUA)
Brace yourself for a hot spring and summer this year in Mexico.
The National Meteorological Service (SMN) has predicted that Mexico will experience five heat waves between March and July, which are likely to exacerbate the ongoing drought conditions in various regions.
According to meteorologists, Mexico could see its first heat wave as soon as March this year. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
Furthermore, the meteorological agency expects 2024 to be hotter than 2023 — when Mexico saw four heat waves — with temperatures potentially exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) in certain areas.
According to the SMN’s forecast, Mexico could experience one heat wave in March, two in April, one in May and one in June. While all states in Mexico will be affected by the scorching temperatures, the northern states of Sonora, Baja California, Coahuila and Nuevo León could experience even stronger ones, while the Yucatán Peninsula could experience higher levels of humidity.
Meanwhile, according to the Environmental Commission of the Megalopolis (CAMe), an intergovernmental coordinating agency which oversees environmental protection in Mexico City and neighboring states, the capital could see between three and eight environmental alerts in 2024 due to heat waves and atmospheric ozone.
“We find the highest concentrations [of ozone] in April and May; during this ozone season elevated particle levels are also registered, above all PM10 particles as a result of drought conditions in the environment,” said CAMe director Víctor Hugo Páramo. Mexico City experienced six such environmental alerts in 2022 and three in 2021.
Ozone pollution is high during springtime in the capital, as the weather warms but the rains have yet to arrive. (Archive)
A heat wave is a period of at least three consecutive days of above-average temperatures, defined according to location. This phenomenon occurs when very warm masses of air enter or stay in an area for an extended period of time. Heat waves can impact agriculture, forest fire incidence and drought.
Overall, weather conditions in the first part of the year may be drier and hotter than usual due to the last remnants of the El Niño phenomenon, a naturally occurring weather pattern that causes higher-than-average sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific region. It occurs every two to seven years with varying intensity.
A strong El Niño can lead to warming of the atmosphere and changes in circulation patterns around the world. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States, El Niño will likely finish by April, giving way to La Niña between June and August.
While El Niño is the warm phase of a climate phenomenon called the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), La Niña is the cold phase. Historically, El Niño tends to appear before La Niña; both affect climate all over the world and can cause intense storms and other extreme weather events.
Analyst Luis Rubio asks is Mexico's current relative stability sustainable? (Courtesy)
Problems pile up when the capacity to respond diminishes. Even more so when those responsible appear utterly unwilling to respond.
It comes as no surprise to anyone these days that problems such as insecurity, criminality, corruption, racketeering and electoral conflicts continue to mushroom while candidates for office are assassinated, journalists are disappeared, land is expropriated without the least bit of a warning and attacks are made on anything contrary to the message put forth by the president. These are all examples of the contentious environment characterizing Mexico today, and evidence of a complete absence of governance.
To the latter, one must add the day-to-day governmental affairs that do not function as they should, from schools to the supply of drinking water or medicines, to cite three obvious examples. The same may be said of the extraordinary budgetary and financial imbalances taking place this year that will inevitably impact the finances of the next government.
If one accepts the definition of governance by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) (“governability comprises the mechanisms, processes and institutions that determine how power is exercised, such as decision-making with respect to issues of public concern and how citizens articulate their interests, exercise their rights, comply with their obligations and mediate their differences,”) the country is in effect not being governed; nor does there exist the minimal understanding of governance in order for it to occur. Considering that governance includes the planning and anticipation of future needs and challenges, Mexico maintains stability truly by a miracle. And miracles are always put to the test during the election cycle, during which the outgoing government loses its capacity for action, and the incoming government has not yet begun to focus on and organize itself for the same.
A sensible government that recognizes its limitations would seek out ways to decentralize decision-making to reduce risk and increase its problem-solving capacities. Mexico’s, however, has put all of the decisions not just in the hands of the federal government, but in the hands of the president. The institutional scaffolding constructed during the past decades has proven insufficient to stop this authoritarian onslaught, but it was at least an attempt to prevent this cardinal problem. Today, the only decentralization happening is that of transferring an increasing number of decisions to the army.
Resorting to the army is practical due to the vertical nature of the institution, which confers upon it a capacity for action even beyond that of an authoritarian government. However, the breadth of the activities entrusted to this institution have rendered the attainment of its goals impossible. I do not mean to undermine the work done by the army in this administration. Rather, I seek to acknowledge a simple fact: no one institution can take on the construction of mega infrastructure projects, administer airports and airlines, respond to natural emergencies (such as earthquakes or floods) and provide for national security.
The diversity of responsibilities bestowed on the army is such that their performance is always poor. It is not by chance that nations in which the government absorbed everything (like the former Eastern Bloc) ended up decentralized so as to raise the population’s standard of living. In other words, it is impossible to control everything and, at the same time, comply with the essential aim of any government, which is the physical safety of the population and to create the conditions for economic progress.
It is clear that these factors have not been a priority (or even an objective) of the current government, but their absence constitutes a major challenge for the current electoral year and for the incoming government. It is easy to lose sight of this while the president entertains high levels of popularity at the same time that economic variables (such as the peso-dollar exchange rate and the price of gasoline) remain stable.
But anyone who has observed the country’s evolution over the past decades knows that this is unsustainable. In other words, the absence of governance not only creates a risk for the outgoing government, but also for the country in general — precisely at the most delicate moment of the sexenio: that of the transition of power.
Max Weber, the early 20th-century German sociologist, wrote that there are three types of legitimate authority: the charismatic, the rational-legal and the traditional. Mexico has lived through five years of a charismatic exercise of power, the most unstable of the three according to Weber. Upon abandoning the responsibility of governing, the president has ceded the state to criminals and to chance, therefore guaranteeing that any stability we see today is exceedingly precarious.
Luis Rubio is the president of México Evalúa-CIDAC and former president of the Mexican Council on International Affairs (COMEXI). He is a prolific columnist on international relations and on politics and the economy, writing weekly for Reforma newspaper, and regularly for The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mexico News Daily, its owner or its employees.
Getting the perfect Mexican home is better - and cheaper - when you buy from local traders and artesans. (Rashmi Kamath/Instagram)
Moving expenses can add up quickly. Between deposits, transportation fees, and relocation costs, the thought of designing your new Mexican home might feel overwhelming.
You could hire an interior decorator. You could order from Amazon or Ikea. You could go shopping at Walmart or Sam’s Club.
Why go to Walmart when you can find better items in your local area? (Roberto Carlos Roman/Unsplash)
Or, you could design your new home with quality, affordable items made right here in Mexico.
From storage to cleaning, artisan-made solutions abound and can be found at your neighborhood market. Buying small business products isn’t just a show of support for the economy, it’s also a subtle way to immerse yourself into your new community here in Mexico.
So instead of stocking up that virtual Ikea cart, head to your weekly tianguis and shop these quality products that will transform your space into the stylish Mexican home of your dreams.
Hand-woven baskets
Hand-woven baskets bring a splash of traditional Mexico into your new home. (Alexandra Tran/Unsplash)
Baskets come in various sizes and can be used as hampers, plant pots, storage boxes, and closet organizers. The prices will vary depending on where you buy them — for example, in Mexico City, baskets are sold on the street of Roma for about three times the price of a shop in Centro Histórico. Still, they’re generally cheaper and much more authentic than plastic storage containers from Ikea, with prices starting around 100 pesos for a 20 cm x 30 cm basket.
Cleaning rags
Mexican-style cleaning rags are works of art. In fact, I often have a hard time using them because they’re so pretty. Some are the size of a washcloth and others a bath towel.
Most are made of cotton and they come in all sorts of colors, usually with a stripe down the middle. Prices vary, but I’ve yet to be quoted more than 40 pesos for any size. I hang them on hooks in my kitchen as decor and for easy access.
Pillows, blankets, and rugs
Loom-woven blankets, pillows, and rugs, made of cotton or wool, are as Mexican as it comes. I just bought an eggshell-colored (known here as bone, or hueso) cotton blanket for my full-sized bed for 1,800 pesos. The two matching throw pillows I splurged on cost 600 pesos and my bed looks like it came straight out of a Mexican Architectural Digest.
Your closest crafts market will sell these items in droves, so look for anything called El Mercado de Artesanías, which you can find in every city from Oaxaca to Querétaro.
Local art
Brightly-painted Mexican-style art isn’t cheap, per se, but it isn’t outrageous either. Here in Mexico City, there are weekly outdoor markets for local artists to showcase their latest masterpieces. Prices are really all over the place, but the satisfaction that you’re supporting the community while also making your home a bit more cozy is the best investment there is.
If what you want is art but you don’t want to necessarily invest in the next Rufino Tamayo, beeline directly to your town or city’s main square and ask about the mercado del arte. Some artists sell their work on the street every day of the week, like they do in Oaxaca City, while others follow a weekly location rotation as they do in CDMX.
Plants
A visit to your local vivero can net you some colorful plants to brighten up your Mexican home. (Chris Havler-Barrett)
The last potted plant I bought in Miami was a simple rubber plant in a blue clay pot. It cost me US$75, and that was before inflation.
The first potted plant I bought in Mexico City was an indoor palm tree double that size, and it cost me 200 pesos. Needless to say, I now live in an indoor garden. My home feels comfortable, aesthetically Mexican, and clean.
Instead of Home Depot, buy plants at a vivero — a greenhouse that sells all species of live plants. Many cities construct viveros in the center according to season. For example, orchid vendors filled Mexico City’s Avenida Reforma over the weekend.
Dishware
I’m lucky enough to live around the corner from a bus that takes me to Puebla anytime I want. When I get there, I stock up on Talavera plates, drinking cups, and vases. My latest purchase was a set of four blue-and-white cups for which I paid a whopping 500 pesos.
Are they real, authentic, one-of-a-kind Talavera? Doubtful. But they look the part, they’re made in Mexico, and they match perfectly with the similarly designed dishes and bowls I had bought a month prior. Not to mention, the color contrast looks gorgeous on the off-white cotton tablecloth I bought in Oaxaca City for 1,200 pesos.
If multicolored dishes aren’t your style, terra cotta ceramic dishes and cookware are beautiful, sturdy, and affordable almost everywhere. Shop these items at the artisanal market closest to you, like Mercado de Artesanías in San Miguel de Allende or El Parián in Puebla.
Mirrors
The plastic full-length Ikea mirror 40cm x 150cm starts at 1,200 pesos. For the same price or better, you can get a sturdy, wooden mirror in the hue of your choice, including glittering gold.
Smaller mirrors for decorative purposes start at 100 pesos and are a great way to bring light to a room that doesn’t get much sun. Mix and match them on the wall with framed pictures for a unique, artsy look.
Mirrors are usually sold wherever framed art is on display, so check out your neighborhood art market. CDMX’s Colonia San Rafael famously hosts a mercado del arte every Sunday where you can purchase mirrors of all sizes.
Vases
Cut flowers are significantly more affordable than I was accustomed to in the States, so I religiously buy a bunch of lilies every other Sunday because they’re lovely and aromatic. For this, I need vases, which I’ve collected in a handful of places including an antique street market, the El Parián artisan market in Puebla, and on Avenida Reforma in Mexico City.
If you do plan to buy a vase from a street vendor, flip it over to make sure it has been made in Mexico, as Chinese knock-offs have been known to sneak their way to the local tianguis on occasion.
Look for your city’s local ceramics store for beautifully crafted vases, like Tradición Bernabe in Guadalajara’s Tonalá section or Mercado De Artesanías La Ciudadela in Mexico City.
Placemats
Traditional placemats can brighten up any dining table. (Etsy)
These are such a fun and easy way to bring pizazz to your dining area. They are made of palm fiber, woven in the shape of circles or ovals and are dyed all colors of the rainbow. If, say, you buy terra-cotta ceramic dishware, you can liven things up with an orange or yellow placemat, which shouldn’t run you more than 200 pesos for a set of four.
Artisanal markets are full of crafts like placemats. Scope out the weekly art tianguis or find the closest fixed mercado de artisanaría, like the one in Coyoacán, CDMX or Lucas de Galvez Market in Mérida.
Did I miss anything? Leave a comment below! Let other readers know what bargain purchases you’ve made that have livened up your Mexican home.
Mexico's agricultural and manufacturing exports both increased in April, driving up export revenue. (Cuartoscuro)
¡Buen provecho y salud! (Bon appétit and cheers!)
Mexico’s agricultural and agro-industrial exports brought in more revenue in 2023 than any previous year, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Mexico.
Poultry was amongst Mexico’s top agri-food imports in 2023. (Egor Myznik/Unsplash)
The value of agri-food exports — a category that includes big-earning beverages such as beer and tequila — hit a record high of US $51.87 billion in 2023, a 3.9% increase compared to 2022.
Meanwhile, agri-food imports declined ever so slightly (0.07%) to $44.29 billion, leaving Mexico with an agri-food trade surplus of just under $7.58 billion in 2023, a 35.3% increase compared to the 2022 surplus. It was the ninth consecutive year that Mexico had an agri-food trade surplus.
Agriculture Minister Víctor Villalobos Arámbula noted in a statement that 2023 was the first year that Mexico’s agri-food exports exceeded $50 billion. A decade earlier in 2013, agri-food exports were worth $24.4 billion, meaning that they increased 113% in the space of a decade.
Villalabos said that agri-food exports contribute to economic dynamism in Mexico as they stimulate job creation and generate foreign currency earnings.
Which agri-food products brought in the most revenue?
It’s no secret that Mexican beer is popular among consumers all over the world.
That fact is clear to see in the agri-food export data, as cerveza mexicana generated revenue of $6.16 billion in 2023, more than any other product in the category. The value of beer exports rose 2.2% compared to 2022.
Beer was Mexico’s largest agri-food export, raking in more than US $6 billion. (Edgardo Moya/Shutterstock)
The next biggest earner was tequila/mezcal with the two agave spirits — lumped together in the Bank of Mexico data — bringing in just under $4.3 billion in export revenue, an increase of 1.6% compared to the previous year.
Rounding out the top five were:
Tomatoes: $3.04 billion (up 13.5% compared to 2022).
Avocados: $3.03 billion (down 8.8% in annual terms).
Bakery products: $2.64 billion (up 13%).
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development noted that the value of live beef cattle exports rose 63.1% in 2023, the highest percentage terms increase of any agri-food product. The total value of such exports was $1.11 billion.
The next biggest percentage term increases were for:
The biggest market for Mexican agri-food exports is the United States, but Mexico sends its products all over the world. Corona beer, for example, is exported to 180 countries, according to AB InBev, the Belgian multinational that owns the brand.
What were Mexico’s top agri-food imports?
In 2023, Mexico imported yellow corn worth US $5.87 million, an increase of 1.3% compared to 2022. Most of the yellow corn – which is widely used in Mexico as animal fodder – came from the United States, Mexico’s top trade partner.
Mexico’s next biggest agri-food imports were:
Soy beans: $3.65 billion (down 11.5% from 2022).
Pork: $2.76 billion (up 4.2% in annual terms).
Wheat: $1.8 billion, (down 14.9%).
Poultry: $1.59 billion (8.2%).
Agriculture consultancy Grupo Consultor de Mercados Agrícolas (GCMA) said in late December that Mexico imported a record high of 37.44 million tonnes of grains and oil producing plants in the first 11 months of 2023, an 8.8% increase compared to the same period of 2022. Widespread drought in Mexico was the main reason for the increase.
Mexican fans bought 3% of Super Bowl tickets sold on StubHub this year. (Shutterstock)
Fans in the United States, of course, bought the most tickets to Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday in Las Vegas, but guess which country was No. 2?
According to StubHub, NFL fans in Mexico purchased 3% of the seats that the ticket resale giant sold to the game at Allegiant Stadium — where a sellout crowd of 61,629 watched the Kansas City Chiefs subdue the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime.
StubHub’s report that Mexico was second only to the U.S. was picked up by several Latin American media sources.
One of them, Latinus, declared proudly that Mexicans had surpassed Canadians in ticket sales and were going to be the “segunda fuerza” (second force) in Las Vegas.
“Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas will be painted tricolor,” the media outlet hyperbolized in allusion to the green, red and white Mexican flag.
ESPN Deportes declared with similar brashness that the Chiefs-49ers game “will be, in part, a Mexican fiesta.”
Mexican American pro wrestler Rey Mysterio at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday. (WWE Español/X)
Though no reports specified how many 2024 Super Bowl tickets overall were purchased by Mexicans, the media outlets generously concluded that Mexicans were the largest foreign fan base at the game.
StubHub did provide the statistic that the number of Mexicans who purchased its resale tickets was 47% higher this year than it was for the Super Bowl in 2020 (in which the Chiefs and 49ers also faced off).
CBS News reported the average price of a resale ticket to this year’s game at US $8,600, based on information from StubHub. The cheapest face-value tickets this year, sold directly by the NFL, were about US $2,000 each.
The attendance in Las Vegas of 61,629 was the lowest attendance in 57 of the 58 Super Bowls to date. Only the Super Bowl played on Feb. 7, 2021 in Tampa, Florida, had a lower attendance (24,835), but that was due to restrictions put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Mexican ticket sales news was good news for the NFL, which in recent years has been putting a lot of effort into recruiting and maintaining its Latin American fan base.
The league says that Hispanics in the United States are the NFL’s most rapidly growing fan base, with an increase of 11% over this time last year.
Forbes México reported that the Mexican band Los Tigres del Norte declared themselves last week to be diehard 49ers fans — and that during their concert on Sunday in Chicago they would be wearing red 49ers underwear to support the team.
A Mexican fan proudly represents his home town at the Super Bowl on Sunday. (Juárez Ahora/Facebook)
The Mexican Association of Travel Agencies said airline ticket purchases from Mexico to Las Vegas last week increased by 20% over airline tickets to last year’s Super Bowl site in a Phoenix suburb (a 38-35 victory for the Chiefs over the Philadelphia Eagles).
For this year’s game in the U.S., the Spanish-language network Univision hosted its first Super Bowl telecast ever. Owned by Mexican American media giant TelevisaUnivision, the network also broadcast the game in Mexico on Televisa.
TV viewership numbers will come more into focus on Tuesday; preliminary reports showed the broadcast in the U.S. could likely beat last year’s record Super Bowl viewership of 115.1 million viewers.
The Spanish-language telecast didn’t miss its opportunity to comment on the romance that, for some viewers, eclipsed the sporting event. The commentary when singer Taylor Swift and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce kissed after the game was, “¡Viva el amor!” (Long live love!).
The Cancún-Tulum section of the Maya Train will be open by the end of the month, says President López Obrador. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed on Sunday that the Cancún to Playa del Carmen stretch of the Maya Train (Tramo 5 Norte) will open as scheduled on Feb. 29.
In a post on social media platform X the president said that he carried out an inspection of the Maya train over the weekend, along with various members of his cabinet and the governor of Yucatán, Mauricio Vila.
President López Obrador shared an image of a working group reviewing progress at the railroad project. (Andrés Manuel López Obrador)
“Yesterday and today, we supervised work on the Maya Train. On Feb. 29, we will inaugurate the section from Cancún to Playa del Carmen, in the heart of the tourist area, bearing in mind the need to improve transport for the [tourism] industry’s employees,” he wrote.
While Feb. 29 had previously been announced as the date for completion of the entire railroad — which crosses the states of Yucatán, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco and Chiapas — López Obrador said in January that the inauguration of the remaining sections (the southern part of Section 5, as well as Sections 6 and 7) would be postponed, likely until after the June 2 elections.
During the president’s Monday morning press conference, Maya Train director General Óscar David Lozano Águila said that the Tramo 5 Norte would offer an early morning service for regional workers at 6 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. from Cancún to Playa del Carmen. For tourists, the train will open at 9 a.m. and offer six daily departures. However, he said that the frequency of the schedules would depend on user demand.
The Cancún-Playa del Carmen section covers almost 50.57 km and comprises three stations: Cancún-Airport, Puerto Morelos and Playa del Carmen.
Maya Train pilings shown penetrating the roofs of underground caves. (gchristy65/X)
Environmentalists have repeatedly raised concerns about the potential damage to the environment and subterranean water systems caused by construction of the massive infrastructure project, while the government says it will be key to economic development in the southeast.
Héctor Rebaque and his HR100 car - Mexico's first (and so far only) Formula One car - at the 1979 Canadian Grand Prix. (Re Alessandro)
The modern world of Formula One is a super corporate, high-spending, ultra-glamorous one. Millions of viewers from around the world tune in to watch their racing heroes — including Mexico’s Sergio “Checo” Perez and his Red Bull Racing team — as expertly engineered machines rally against hundredths of a second.
Fifty years ago, however, the top level of global motorsport was a very different place.
The son of an architect, Héctor Rebaque was a Mexico City-born racer who competed at the very highest level of motorsport. (Ziv Knoll)
This was the era of the brave gentleman driver, a man from another time making his way in very different world. Sometimes these drivers would appear at one-off races, building their own cars from kits. Fancying themselves a designer, they would pioneer what they believed to be the next big concept in racing (it usually wasn’t). Many raced simply for the pleasure of speed and a desire to compete with the best, and had the deep pockets to do so.
Their names are etched into Formula One history — Jim Clark, the Scottish farmer many believe to be the greatest ever to race in the sport; Graham Hill, the master of Monaco; Rob Walker, the heir to the Johnnie Walker whisky fortune who listed his occupation only as “Gentleman;” and Al Pease, the only driver ever to be disqualified for driving too slowly.
The last of these great sporting amateurs was Hector Rebaque, the chilango son of an architect. Family money made it easy for him to enter the 1973 24 Hours of Daytona aged just 18. Modest sportscar success followed, and in 1974, he and fellow Mexican Guillermo Rojas entered their own car — a Porsche Carrera — as the Rebaque-Rojas racing team.
Not satisfied with simply racing sportscars, Rebaque set his sights on the ultimate motorsport series – Formula One. His timing couldn’t have been better.
Mexico in Formula One
The first Mexicans to race in Formula One were the Rodríguez brothers — super talented Ricardo and successful race-winner Pedro — but both were tragically killed early in their careers: Ricardo at the very first Mexican Grand Prix in 1962, and Pedro in Germany in 1971. Their deaths rocked the world of Mexican sports, and the public searched for another driver with the talent to represent Mexico on the world stage. Moisés Solana had valiantly tried to fill this gap, but his efforts in the top tier of motorsport had come up short. Mexico needed winners.
The Rodríguez brothers pioneered Mexican motorsport, dazzling racing fans between 1957 and 1970. (Pirelli)
It was under these circumstances that Hector Rebaque first came to Formula One. He had found himself a spot on the Hesketh racing team — best known for the playboy lifestyle of its owner and drivers, including the famous James Hunt. It was the ultimate privateer team for the ultimate privateer driver.
There was just one problem: Hesketh wasn’t very good. The car was slow, the team had no money, and the owner, Lord Thomas Hesketh, prioritized a life of vice over racing success. In true Mexican spirit, however, Rebaque had an incessant drive to succeed, and set out to reach the top any way he could. It was time to start his own Formula One team, and run things his way.
Mexico’s first Formula One car
Formula One teams are almost always based in the United Kingdom (with a few notable exceptions, like Ferrari), so founding and operating Team Rebaque was going to require setting up shop outside of Mexico.
That didn’t mean the DNA of the team had to be foreign, however, and the team earned sponsorship from a number of Mexican brands. The title sponsor was brewery chain Moctezuma (under their Carta Blanca label). Further support came from Domecq wines and a long-standing partnership with Café de México, which gave the team the funding they needed to get started. Other Mexicans on the team included Hector Rebaque Sr., Hector’s father, and Chacho Medina, who would go on to become the voice of Mexican motorsport commentary.
Team Rebaque negotiated the use of the title-winning Lotus 78 during their first season, seen here at the British Grand Prix. (Keith Long)
The Rebaque team had a lot of spirit, but it didn’t have a lot of money compared to the major players of the time. At the other end of the title race, Mclaren turned over £2.25 (US $2.8 million) in 1980 alone, equivalent to £9.7 million (US$ 12.2 million) today).
Given the team’s financial limitations, the Mexican Formula One dream began in the back of a garage in Leamington Spa, a charming market town on the outskirts of Birmingham. In a feat of outstanding negotiation, Rebaque arranged for the team to buy the revolutionary Lotus 78, which had won the World Championship the year before, outfitting it with the privateer’s engine of choice — the Cosworth DFV.
Hector ran the team, the office, served as a mechanic and acted as its only driver. Over the course of two full seasons, he raced in 30 Grands Prix across four continents. He arranged sponsors, worked on the car, and negotiated with suppliers.
The first season ahead of the 1978 World Championship was slow. The huge number of entries during the early years of Formula One — when drivers could enter their home Grand Prix for a single race — meant that it was often necessary to “pre-qualify,” a step which meant many new teams faced extreme pressure to even make it into the event itself. This didn’t stop Rebaque, who managed to qualify for nine of the 16 events in his first season.
Real success came in the German Grand Prix that year, when Rebaque took his car from 18th place on the grid to a 6th-place finish and scored the first points for Team Rebaque. The enormous achievement put the team on the map, and the future looked bright for the Mexican privateers battling for racing glory.
But Rebaque had even larger plans. He commissioned Geoff Ferris and John Barnard to build him the Rebaque HR100 — Mexico’s first (and so far, only) Formula One car. Designing and building a car from scratch isn’t easy, especially when you run your team in the back of an industrial estate, and it took some time for the final designs to be signed off on and prepared.
Sponsor pressure for the new car was huge — Mexico’s first Formula One car was a sporting achievement, and supporters wanted to see what Rebaque had created. As a result, the car was rushed out for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, perhaps a little earlier than it should have been.
Rebaque later found himself at Brabham, but he struggled to adapt to the car as his teammate Nelson Piquet won the World Championship. (f1forgottendrivers.com)
Unfortunately, patriotism, spirit and courage can only take you so far. The car was not especially fast, and it failed to qualify for three of the four races in which it was entered, retiring after its one race day outing in Canada.
After Formula One
Under modern scoring rules, Team Rebaque would have been a decent success, with enough points to attract the necessary sponsorship to continue. Unfortunately, the points system in the 1970s was much less forgiving — but Team Rebaque retains the distinction of being a points-scoring team nonetheless, something which only a handful of racecar constructors can say they have achieved.
Much like Checo Pérez some 40 years later, Rebaque managed to do well enough to secure a drive with a top team — and he headed to Brabham. While he picked up some points finishes, he finished a distant 10th in his only full season with the team, while his teammate Nelson Piquet won the title in the same car.
Rebaque was well enough regarded, and his efforts were rewarded in 1982 with an offer to join the Arrows team. Still, he chose to look to new pastures for the rest of his career.
Today, the HR100 sits in Rebaque’s garden as a memory of the time when Mexico dared to dream at motor racing’s highest level. (Carlos Jalife)
He headed to the United States and bagged a win at Road America in his only season with the #52 Carta Blanca car. He also finished in the top 15 in the Indianapolis 500 that same year.
Today, Rebaque is an architect, like his father. The HR100 can be found at his home, serving as a garden ornament.
The incident occurred in the beach town of Tulum, Quintana Roo. (Flickr)
A woman from the United States was killed at a beach club in the resort town of Tulum on Friday during an armed attack that targeted an alleged member of a local crime group.
Media reports identified the woman as 44-year-old Niko Honarbakhsh, who was originally from Los Angeles but lived in Cancún.
The Quintana Roo Attorney General’s Office (FGE) said in a statement that a foreign man, an alleged criminal known as “Belice” (Belize), was also killed. It didn’t explicitly say he was from Belize — which borders Quintana Roo — but some reports assumed that was the case.
The attack occurred at the Mia Restaurant and Beach Club, which describes itself as “the best beach club” in Tulum.
The FGE said Sunday that it had identified the perpetrators of the attack and was working to apprehend them. Three people entered the restaurant in search of a diner who attempted to flee upon seeing them, the El Universal newspaper reported.
The FGE stressed that the female victim was in no way linked to “Belice,” who died at a hospital from gunshot wounds he sustained.
At least one media outlet suggested that the two victims were a couple, but an alleged photo of them together showed a different woman, the FGE said.
Honarbakhsh, identified by some reports as the wife of a former DEA agent, was apparently killed by a stray bullet.
The FGE said that “Belice” was accused of drug dealing and belonged to a criminal group considered a “generator of violence” in Quintana Roo, a state which also includes the tourist hotspots of Cancún and Playa del Carmen.
It said that at the time of his murder, he was in possession of bags of white powder with the “characteristics” of cocaine as well as red and orange pills and a small bag of brown-colored powder.
Foreigners have been killed in previous armed attacks in Tulum, including one in October 2021 that left a German woman and an Indian woman dead. They, and three other foreign tourists who were wounded, were caught in the crossfire of a shootout between drug gangs.
Shortly before spring break last year, the United States government advised U.S. citizens to “exercise increased caution in the downtown areas of popular spring break locations, including Cancún, Playa Del Carmen, and Tulum, especially after dark.”
Quintana Roo was Mexico’s 17th most violent state in terms of total homicides last year. There were 722 murders in the Caribbean coast state in 2023, according to preliminary government data, an increase of 14.6% compared to 2022.
The lab was the largest discovered so far during AMLO's term. (Semar/Cuartoscuro)
A massive drug lab hidden in the mountains of Sonora was uncovered last week by the Mexican Navy (Semar) and dismantled over the weekend.
According to reports, the lab is the largest seized during the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who took office Dec. 1, 2018.
Officials seized over 35 tonnes of methamphetamines ready for sale, plus chemicals that could be used to produce an additional 41 tonnes of illegal drugs. (Alfonso Durazo/Facebook)
In announcing the bust on Sunday, officials said they had seized just over 35 tonnes of methamphetamines (crystal meth) ready for sale, plus chemicals that could be used to produce an additional 41 tonnes of illegal drugs.
Combined, the potential street value of everything seized was more than US $600 million, according to Semar.
The “megalaboratory” was found in the municipality of Quiriego in southern Sonora, about 425 kilometers south of the state’s border with Arizona at Nogales.
The raid was a joint effort among elements of the Navy, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) and state officials.
Sonora Governor Alfonso Durazo visited the site of the bust over the weekend. (Alfonso Durazo/Facebook)
To put the bust in perspective, Sonora Governor Alfonso Durazo said the largest illegal drug laboratory previously recorded in Sinaloa last year, had 13 reactors, although reports at the timeput the number at 23.
The newly located Sonora lab had 72 reactors, 102 condensers and 32 centrifuges.
Vehicles, motorcycles, trailers and various materials related to the production of synthetic drugs were also found at the site, but authorities said they did not arrest any suspects, nor did they find any weapons or cash.
José Rafael Ojeda Durán, the head of the Mexican Navy, said the operation prevented more than 1 billion pills from reaching the United States, Canada, Australia, China, Spain, Japan and various European countries.
The lab was located in a mountainous region near the tri-border point of Sonora, Chihuahua and Sinaloa, an area where factions loyal to the Sinaloa Cartel – and run by sons of imprisoned cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera – are known to operate.
“Indeed, we believe it is run by the Sinaloa Cartel,” Ojeda said of the lab.
The laboratory is believed to have been operated by the Sinaloa Cartel. (Semar/Cuartoscuro)
The discovery comes on the heels of a meeting last Thursday in Mexico City led by the White House Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall and attended by representatives from Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.
A White House transcript of the fourth meeting of the Trilateral Fentanyl Committee noted that the three countries reaffirmed their commitment to reducing the movement of illicit synthetic drugs (especially fentanyl) and firearms, and to fighting human trafficking.
One of the primary actions agreed upon was “increasing collaboration on the control of precursor chemicals and equipment related to illicit drug production.”
The seizure of the Sonora lab came one week after two armed attacks were reported in the area. The attacks, one on a family and the other on a group of day laborers, resulted in seven deaths and the arrest of three alleged gang members. It is unclear whether there is a connection between the arrests and the raid.
The strongest of the earthquakes had a magnitude of 5.3. (SkyAlert)
The cities of Mexicali, Tijuana and Tecate, Baja California were hit by a series of earthquakes early on Monday.
The first earthquake, which registered a magnitude of 4.8 on the Richter scale, occurred at 12:36 a.m. Its epicenter was located 3 km from El Centro, a city in Imperial County, California.
The first of this morning’s earthquakes occurred in El Centro, California. (USGS)
At 2:32 a.m., Mexico’s National Seismological Service (SSN) reported another earthquake with a magnitude of 5.3 and a depth of 10 kilometers southeast of the Santa Isabel municipality in Mexicali.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), over 20 aftershocks occurred between 12:36 and 5:24 a.m. Monday, with magnitudes ranging between 3.5 to 4.8.
As a precautionary measure, Baja California Governor María del Pilar Ávila Olmeda ordered schools in Mexicali to close on Monday so that authorities could assess the safety of school infrastructure.
She added that no damages had been reported so far. According to local media, the Health Ministry reported that the state’s hospitals have been operating normally.
In an interview with the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the head of the SSN Arturo Iglesias Mendoza explained that the term “earthquake swarm” refers to the occurrence of multiple earthquakes in the same region within a short period of time. Typically, these earthquakes have similar magnitudes.
This could help explain the cluster of earthquakes that happened today between Mexico and the United States, which seem to have originated from the San Jacinto fault system, one of the most active faults in Southern California.
