The military has been deployed previously to natural disaster zones to help clear highways; now they will be in charge of maintenance on some of the country's major roadways. (Cuartoscuro)
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has given the military yet another job: maintaining the nation’s highways.
At his morning press conference on Tuesday, López Obrador acknowledged that he had assigned the task of maintaining some federal highways to the Defense Ministry (Sedena).
He explained that the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport (SICT) previously contracted private companies to maintain highways.
“But they didn’t do the job well” and “there were swindles,” López Obrador said.
He said that he had informed the minister of infrastructure, communications and transport, Jorge Nuño Lara, that military engineers would assume responsibility for the highway maintenance program in the southeast of the country using machinery purchased for the Maya Train railroad project. Roads were damaged in the region due to their use by trucks transporting ballast for the railroad, according to the president.
It hasn’t been confirmed, but it appears likely that the military will also assume responsibility for highway maintenance projects in other parts of the country.
Mexico’s military has been given a wide range of tasks during the López Obrador administration, including public security and infrastructure construction. (Cuartoscuro)
López Obrador asserted that the army could do a better job fixing highways than private companies. He also said it could complete projects more quickly and at a lower cost.
The military engineers provide a “guarantee” that the government will fulfill its commitment to leave the nation’s highways in good shape when it leaves office in late 2024, he said.
The president has relied heavily on the armed forces since taking office in 2018, using the army and navy for a wide range of tasks including public security, infrastructure construction, the management of customs, ports and airports and the administration of public companies such as those responsible for the Maya Train railroad and the state-owned airline Mexicana.
López Obrador’s remarks about the new role he has assigned the army came after the Reforma newspaper and other news outlets reported Monday that he had ordered Sedena to take charge of maintaining the nation’s highways. Reforma’s reporting was based on a Jan. 20 letter from a military official to Nuño Lara in which the former seeks information about highway projects planned for this year so that the army can prepare to carry them out.
Earlier this month, the SICT canceled the government’s 2024 “highway conservation” program, which “had 559 tenders underway” and estimated funding of 11 billion pesos (US $644.6 million), according to Reforma.
The Mexican Chamber of the Construction Industry (CMIC) on Monday expressed its “profound concern” about the cancellation of the program given that “good maintenance of the national highway network is the basis for the development of the country’s economy.”
“The lack of investment in the maintenance and conservation of highways has been a constant for several years, which with it has brought a significant deterioration in the country’s transport infrastructure, affecting Mexico’s competitiveness,” the chamber said in a statement.
“A highway network in poor condition increases transport costs, reduces logistical efficiency, affects road safety, increases accidents [and] reduces investment, both national and foreign,” CIMIC said.
It was unclear how much of the canceled program’s funding will go to Sedena for highway maintenance, but the amount of government money the army manages will almost certainly increase as the result of the new task it has been assigned.
“The military manages at its discretion and in opacity a purse of 77 billion pesos, and now it will have the resources available for highway maintenance,” Reforma reported.
In addition to insufficient maintenance, insecurity is a major concern on Mexican highways.
Reconstruction of the stadium hosting next week's ATP tournament is 95% complete. (abiertomexicanodetenis.com)
The Mexican Open tennis tournament is less than a week away, and organizers in Acapulco are confident that post-hurricane reconstruction will be completed on time to host the ATP tournament.
The Pacific Coast beach resort was battered in late October by a Category 5 hurricane that destroyed the tennis courts and caused structural damage to the Arena GNP Seguros event complex, which has hosted the ATP tournament since 2022.
Hurricane Otis caused severe damage to the GNP Arena in Acapulco. (Cuartoscuro)
Event organizers said in December that they’d be ready to host the tournament in February, saying they hoped that the arena’s reconstruction – and the event itself – would contribute to Acapulco’s recovery process.
Thirty-five companies have been working since December to rehabilitate the Arena GNP complex as well as hotels in the area. The newspaper Milenio toured the grounds this week and reported that reconstruction of the installations was 95 percent complete.
The tour of the tennis courts revealed that the arena has been reconditioned and will capably host the thousands of fans, reporters and media expected to attend the tournament from Feb. 26 to March 2.
Although organizers declined to offer a precise figure, Milenio estimated the cost of the rehabilitation process at 200 million pesos (US $11.7 million).
Tournament Director Álvaro Falla called on Acapulco residents and tennis fans to unite to make the 31st Mexican Open a success. (abiertomexicanodetenis.com)
Tournament Director Álvaro Falla called on Acapulco residents and fans in attendance to unite to make the 31st Mexican Open a success. He did say that protests are to be expected, but hopes they will not tarnish the event.
“We have been working hard to host the [Mexican Open] with the goal of helping to reactivate Acapulco’s economy,” Falla said, expressing gratitude for the cooperation that has facilitated the reconstruction process and allowed the region to make early strides in the long road to recovery.
“These have been difficult days in Acapulco, so we might not see a packed house,” said Falla, acknowledging that local residents typically comprise a significant portion of fans in attendance.
Organizers are offering promotions and discounts to acapulqueños interested in seeing the tournament. Eleven of the Top 20 ATP players will be participating, including four ranked in the Top 10: Germany’s Alexander Zverev (No. 6), Denmark’s Holger Rune (No. 7), American Taylor Fritz (No. 9) and Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas (No.10).
Last year’s Mexican Open – just the second one ever held at the Arena GNP – set a tournament attendance record of over 90,000 fans.
Though not known for being a music festival, Irapuato's annual Strawberry Festival announced a major headliner on Tuesday. (Instagram)
The annual Feria de las Fresas (Strawberry Festival), held in Mexico’s top strawberry-producing region, has announced that Imagine Dragons will be the “surprise band” at the festival’s 2024 edition.
“The Strawberry Fair is consolidating its greatness,” Governor of Guanajuato Diego Sinhue Rodríguez Vallejo said when announcing the news on social media. “We are pleased to announce that Imagine Dragons will join us for our 2024 edition… Welcome to Irapuato, Guanajuato.”
The festival celebrates Irapuato’s strawberry tradition with concerts, shows – and of course – fresh berries. (Feria de las Fresas Irapuato/Facebook)
Similar to a large county fair, the Strawberry Fair (in its 128th year) is not an event you’d typically see on a music festival circuit. News of the fair’s “headliner” surprised fans and residents of Irapuato, who took to social media to share humorous memes as a sign of celebration.
Statements like “…Top things I never thought would happen,” or “I said surprise me, 2024, and it surprised me with this” were circulating on social media on Tuesday.
The fair will run from March 15 through 31 at the Inforum in the city of just over 450,000, with Imagine Dragons performing on March 29 at the Teatro del Pueblo.
The band is originally from Las Vegas and known for the hit songs “It’s Time,” “Believer,” “Enemy” and Grammy-winning “Radioactive.”
In addition to Imagine Dragons, the fair will feature 14 other performers, including U.S. singer and former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell.
Some of the Mexican artists that will perform at the fair include Julión Álvarez, Gloria Trevi, Carlos Rivera and sisters Hannah and Ashley, Ha*Ash.
Other activities at the fair include a food market, amusement rides and circus shows.
Tickets to the fair will cost 20 pesos per person from Monday to Wednesday, and 50 pesos per person from Thursday to Sunday. Toddlers, young children and certain other groups can attend the fair for free.
The ATP Los Cabos Open got underway earlier this week, bringing four of the world's top ten men's players to Baja California Sur. (Los Cabos Tennis Open)
The Los Cabos Tennis Open was already an important tournament, thanks to its status as one of only two Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) sponsored tour events held annually in Mexico. The ATP 250 series men’s competition should gain an even greater profile, however, thanks to both its calendar shift from August to February – the peak of Los Cabos’ high tourist season – and the fact that it serves as the lead-in for the Mexican Open in Acapulco.
The History of the Los Cabos and Mexican Open Tournaments
The Mexican Open has long been the nation’s most important tournament, dating back to the inaugural competition in Mexico City in 1993. The ATP 500 series event moved to Acapulco in 2001 and in the years since has been graced with legendary champions like Rafael Nadal, who has won the tournament on four occasions.
The ATP Los Cabos Open has only been held since 2016, but has risen rapidly in prominence since then. (Los Cabos Tennis Open)
The Los Cabos Tennis Open, by contrast, debuted in 2016. Although its tour level (ATP 250 events provide fewer ranking points than the 500 series) and prize money are lower than the tournament in Acapulco, it has continued to expand during its short eight-year history, rising steadily in terms of prestige, facilities and amenities.
The first tournament in 2016 was held at newly built facilities at the Delmar International School, a bilingual private education institution just outside Cabo San Lucas. By 2021, the action had shifted to the Cabo Sports Complex (CSC), a dedicated sports facility built across from the Solaz Resort Los Cabos (Carretera Transpeninsular Km. 18.5) in the Tourist Corridor that connects Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the new complex had no fans in 2021. But by 2022, the tournament reopened to the public, and over 30,000 spectators attended the 2023 tournament, won by Greece’s Stéfanos Tsitsipás.
Past champions at the Los Cabos Tennis Tournament include Ivo Karlović, American Sam Querrey, Fabio Fognini, Diego Schwartzman, Cameron Norrie and Daniil Medvédev, a Russian player who was ranked number one in the world when he won the tournament’s signature trophy, a colorful ball-shaped award created by talented Mexican Huichol artists.
Russia’s Medvédev with the traditional Huichol-inspired trophy. (Los Cabos Tennis Open)
The Dates and Location of the 2024 Tournament
The eighth edition of the Los Cabos Open will take place from Feb. 19 to 24, 2024 at the CSC in Los Cabos. It is a men’s hard-court event, with 32 singles players and 16 doubles teams competing for US $873,000 in prize money. Mexican bank Mifel and smartphone firm Telcel Oppo are the primary sponsors (this year’s tournament is alternatively known as the Mifel Tennis Open by Telcel Oppo). Other notable sponsors include Pepsi, Wilson, National Car Rental, Disney and ESPN.
Why the Tournament is Moving to February
In past years, the Los Cabos Tennis Open has been a summer showcase held in late July or early August. This will be the first year the tournament is held during winter.
Why the change? As the tournament organizers note, “It allows us to enjoy [tennis] with the perfect temperature.” This is not a trivial matter. Los Cabos in July and August is often blazing hot. During last year’s tournament, for example, the first day of play (July 29) saw temperatures of about 95 degrees Fahrenheit. The average daytime temperature in February, by contrast, is a glorious 80 degrees Fahrenheit. But it’s not just about the weather. February is right in the middle of high tourist season in Los Cabos, meaning there will now be a larger available pool of spectators.
The new date also means the Los Cabos Open will provide positive momentum via a direct lead-in to the Mexican Open in Acapulco (Feb. 24 to March 2). The latter is expected to provide an important economic boost as Acapulco recovers from Hurricane Otis, which devastated the city in October last year.
Los Cabos’ CSC complex will play host to the tournament this year. (Los Cabos Tennis Open)
Which Players Have Committed to the Tournament
Four players ranked among the top 10 in the world have committed to playing in 2024 at the Los Cabos Tennis Open, including last year’s champion, Stéfanos Tsitsipás. The 10-time ATP singles title winner and #5 ranked player in the world headlines an impressive lineup that includes Denmark’s Holger Rune (currently world #4), Norway’s Casper Ruud (ranked #9) and Germany’s Alexander Zverev (#10). Although none of them have won major championships, Ruud is a three-time majors finalist, Tsitsipás has made French and Australian Open finals and Zverev is a former finalist at the U.S. Open.
“There is no doubt that we will have one of the best lineups in the history of the tournament,” Tournament Director José Antonio Fernández told Los Cabos-based news outlet Gringo Gazette in October. “It is an event that has been consolidating over the years, and more and more players want to come live the experience of competing in Los Cabos. We are very excited about our new date during the winter. A new era begins for the organization and we hope it will be great for the fans. We are sure that it will be for the benefit of everyone.”
How to Buy Tickets
Tickets for the upcoming event can be purchased at box office locations in Los Cabos and Mexico City or online via the tournament website. For more information about purchasing tournament passes with all-courts access, as well as weekday and weekend passes and individual tickets, visit loscabostennisopen.com.
Chris Sands is the Cabo San Lucas local expert for the USA Today travel website 10 Best, writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos travel guidebook, and a contributor to numerous websites and publications, including Tasting Table, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise, Cabo Living and Mexico News Daily. His specialty is travel-related content and lifestyle features focused on food, wine and golf.
Mexicana's first customers are giving honest reviews of the airline after it resumed operations in December. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
Two months after the military-run Mexicana de Aviación started operations, a journalist documented her journey on a Mexicana flight from the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) near Mexico City to Monterrey, for the newspaper Expansión.
While she reported no difficulties on the way to the northern city, she was not able to take the return flight home.
Booking a flight with Mexicana flight still feels a little like rolling the dice, according to a recent traveler. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
No online tickets but fast check-in at counter
“Opting for a cheaper airline ticket may end up costing more in the long run,” reporter Diana Nava wrote in her story for Expansión.
The reporter’s ticket from AIFA to Monterrey was approximately 30% cheaper than the fares offered by Mexicana’s competitors. However, the airline does not provide online check-in, digital tickets or QR codes. This means that Mexicana passengers need to queue up at the counter to get a physical ticket, even if they don’t need to check any luggage.
But in Nava’s case, the queue wasn’t long because the Boeing 737-800, with a capacity of 180 passengers, was carrying less than half of its passenger capacity.
Nava took an afternoon flight on Monday with virtually no difficulties at AIFA, but Nava’s experience wasn’t the same when she attempted to board her return flight in Monterrey.
According to Nava, Mexicana does not provide terminal information in the confirmation email, nor do they offer a customer service number. Signage at Monterrey International Airport is limited and since online check-in is not available, Mexicana passengers need to locate the airline’s counter to initiate the boarding process.
The reporter later found out from the company’s manager that since Mexicana only operates two weekly flights at Monterrey airport, it still doesn’t have its own counter. The manager offered that information about the location of the airline in the airport is available on Mexicana’s Facebook and Instagram pages. When the manager tried to find the information himself, Nava reported that he couldn’t find it immediately.
The Mexicana representative also told Nava that she had arrived late for the boarding process and that the plane to Mexico City had left before the scheduled time, carrying only 28 passengers. Due to the low passenger traffic, the manager explained, the airline’s personnel left the check-in counter before the scheduled time to head to the boarding gate.
The manager, who remained anonymous, told Nava that she would get a call from Mexicana’s team to reach an agreement. He added he wasn’t sure she would get a refund for the missed flight.
At the time Expansión published the story, no one from Mexicana’s team had reached out to Nava.
Mexicana offers discounted tickets to flyers but does not offer online ticketing or check-in. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
AMLO acknowledges difficulties in expanding the fleet
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador mentioned that it has been challenging for Mexicana to purchase airplanes due to the high international demand. He added that even companies that rent airplanes do not have availability.
“Indeed, there is a shortage in the market,” he said during a morning press conference. The company currently operates only five airplanes.
Despite the difficulties, López Obrador said they expected to acquire new airplanes by 2028.
Where does Mexicana fly?
According to Mexicana’s website, there are currently 17 routes operating out of AIFA in Mexico City.
The destinations include Acapulco, Campeche, Chetumal, Ciudad Victoria, Guadalajara, Ixtepec, Mérida, Monterrey, Mazatlán, Nuevo Laredo, Palenque, Puerto Vallarta, Tijuana, Tulum, Uruapan, Villa Hermosa and Ixtapa.
The Defense Ministry (Sedena) recently announced that Mexicana will soon start operating flights to Nuevo Laredo (Tamaulipas), Uruapan (Michoacán) and Ciudad Ixtepec (Oaxaca).
Former Finance Minister and politican Carlos Urzúa has died after a heart attack at his Mexico City home. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
Carlos Urzúa, finance minister for seven months at the start of the current federal government’s six-year term, died of a heart attack at his Mexico City home on Monday.
His family issued a statement confirming his death, saying that “he leaves a significant mark on our family [and] friends and in the field of finance and economy.”
Urzúa served as President López Obrador’s first finance minister, but quit shortly into his term. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)
Urzúa, who was 68, served as President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s first finance minister, but resigned on July 9, 2019 — just seven months and eight days after the government took office.
In his resignation letter to the president, Urzúa said that “discrepancies over economic matters” in the government “were plentiful” and “some of them were because … public policy decisions have been taken without sufficient foundation.”
He also said that the appointment of officials to his ministry who “have no knowledge of public finances” was “unacceptable,” adding that they were hired by “influential people in the current government with a clear conflict of interest.”
Most recently, Urzúa joined opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez as part of her campaign for the Mexican presidency this year. (X)
Born in Aguascalientes in 1955, Urzúa studied mathematics at an undergraduate level at the Tec. de Monterrey university and subsequently completed a master’s degree in the same subject at the National Polytechnic Institute. He later obtained a doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin System.
Before becoming federal finance minister, he worked as an academic and served as finance minister in the Mexico City government for a period of around 2 1/2 years when López Obrador was mayor in the early 2000s. Urzúa also worked as a consultant for international organizations such as the World Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.
After leaving the federal government, he returned to academia and more recently joined the campaign of opposition presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez. The day before his death, he attended the “March for Our Democracy” rally in Mexico City, which was organized by civil society groups that support or are affiliated with Mexico’s main opposition parties.
Gálvez said in a radio interview on Tuesday that Mexico had lost a “great Mexican.”
He was “a Mexican who had the acuity to tell you how things were and how they should be,” she added.
For his part, López Obrador conveyed his condolences to Urzúa’s family at his morning press conference.
“I’m very sorry about his death,” he said before acknowledging that there were “differences” between him and his former finance minister.
The iconic pyramid at Chichén Itzá will be examined by scientists using state-of-the-art technology, in the hope that it will yield new data about the structure.(INAH/Cuartoscuro)
A group of international scientists — including academics from Mexico’s National Autonomous University (UNAM) — will use cutting-edge technology to search for hidden chambers inside the iconic ancient pyramid of Chichén Itzá.
The target of this investigation is “El Castillo,” a 30-meter high stepped pyramid that dominates the Chichén Itzá archaeological site in the state of Yucatán and that is also known as the Temple of Kulkulcán.
UNAM’s Arturo Menchaca Rocha and Chicago State University professor Edmundo García Solís hope to discover hidden chambers within the pyramid. (UNAM/Cuartoscuro)
The study, which is set to take place this summer, will rely on a non-invasive process that uses cosmic-ray muon radiography to peer inside sealed off structures. The process, known as Non-Invasive Archaeometry Using Muons (NAUM), was used to get a clear image of a 30-foot corridor inside Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza last year.
The investigators — led by Arturo Menchaca Rocha, a former head of UNAM’s Institute of Physics, and Edmundo García Solis of Chicago State University — aim to get an accurate image of the inside of the pyramid in order to determine if there are secret chambers hidden inside the sub-structure.
Scientists will first map out the two known chambers inside “El Castillo” — known as “El Jaguar” and “Chac Mool” — to confirm the viability of the NAUM system. They will then proceed to produce a detailed examination of the entire pyramid.
The process is expected to take about six months.
What is muography?
Muography is a rapidly developing and non-destructive technology that uses cosmic ray muons, naturally occurring radiation from space. It tracks the number of muons that naturally pass through a target object to determine the density of the inaccessible internal structure.
The muon is one of the fundamental subatomic particles, the most basic building blocks of the universe.
García explained that muons are charged particles similar to electrons but that weigh more than 207 times as much. Due to their greater mass, they can penetrate deeper into matter when charged with energy.
In a bulletin, UNAM explained that the investigators will be using a detector with plastic scintillator sensors that convert energy into pulses of light, with results relayed to researchers via the internet.
Archaeologists will first scan two of the temple’s known hidden chambers as a means of testing the technology. (UNAM/Cuartoscuro)
The data gathered will help the investigators identify changes in density inside the pyramid which can produce a pattern indicating a void.
This technique was previously used to explore the famed Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacán.
Who is funding the study?
The investigation was approved by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH),with funding from UNAM and the United States’ National Science Foundation.
Academics from the University of Virginia and Dominican University are also participating in the study, as is Fermilab, a particle physics and accelerator laboratory in the United States.
The peso is holding steady at close to 17 to the US dollar. (Cuartoscuro)
The Mexican peso appreciated to its strongest position against the US dollar in more than a month on Tuesday morning, trading at just below 17 to the greenback before weakening slightly.
The USD:MXN exchange rate was 16.998 just before 8:30 a.m. Mexico City time, according to Bloomberg. That was the peso’s strongest position since Jan. 15.
At 10 a.m., the peso was trading at a slightly weaker 17.04 to the dollar, on par with its closing position on Monday.
The DXY index, which measures the value of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, was down 0.35% at 10 a.m.
The Monex financial group said that the peso got a boost on Tuesday morning as a result of a “weakened dollar” following a day of low trading volumes in the United States. Monday was a federal holiday in the U.S. for Presidents’ Day.
The publication on Wednesday of the United States Federal Reserve’s minutes from its monetary policy meeting in January could have an impact on the USD:MXN exchange rate as they could give some indication as to when the central bank is likely to make an initial cut to interest rates in the U.S.
When will the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates? A publication of the minutes from its January monetary policy meeting on Wednesday could give clues. (Wikimedia Commons)
Just over half of 104 economists polled by Reuters — 53 — predicted that a first cut to the current 5.25%-5.5% range will come in June, while 33 anticipated an initial cut in May. The other 18 predicted that the Fed will make a first cut sometime in the second half of 2024.
The Mexican peso benefited in 2023 from the vast difference between the Bank of Mexico’s benchmark interest rate — set at 11.25% since last March — and that of the Fed. An initial cut to the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) rate is seen as likely in the first half of the year, although inflation ticked up to almost 5% in January. Banxico will publish the minutes from its monetary policy meeting earlier this month on Thursday.
The peso had an impressive 2023, trading at just below 17 to the dollar at the end of December after beginning the year at around 19.5 to the greenback. The gain for the peso in percentage terms last year was around 13%.
In addition to the difference between interest rates in Mexico and the U.S., strong incoming flows of remittances and foreign investment also contributed to the peso’s positive performance last year.
So far in 2024, the USD:MXN exchange rate has fluctuated between a range of 16.8 and 17.4.
The consensus forecast of 33 banks, brokerages and research organizations consulted by Citibanamex in late 2023 was that the peso will weaken this year to trade at 18.65 to the dollar at the end of 2024.
The Bookmates and 311 Literacy foundations are teaming up to launch a cross-border competition for young readers, with prizes for the winners. (Shutterstock)
To combat low levels of literacy among Hispanic children in the United States and Mexico, one Harvard grad has taken on the challenge of bringing communities closer together through the power of reading.
“Beyond academic development, reading creates emotional connections and fosters positive relationships with other human beings. It is an opportunity to generate empathy and unforgettable memories,” explains Ariadna Trapote, founder and CEO of Little Bookmates and 311 Literacy. Alongside a team of experts, she has created an international bilingual reading tournament for boys and girls that will take place from March 1st to 23rd of this year.
Organizers hope the contest will bring Hispanic communities on both sides of the border closer together. (Jennifer Gates/LightSail/X)
With over 4,000 books available online, the tournament offers access to a wide variety of texts, recording the minutes that children spend reading, thanks to digital platform LightSail. This allows participants to monitor their progress and compete with each other in a fun and educational way. “We believe that if children start reading a lot, they will develop a love for reading and through that, they will be able to learn anything,” Trapote says.
But how does the tournament work? It’s simple: children read books online through the platform, accumulating reading minutes. The challenge lies in seeing which country – Mexico or the United States – accumulates the most reading minutes across the 23 days of the competition.
“We need children to create positive relationships with reading, not just academic ones, so they enjoy reading and can read to learn,” adds Trapote.
Books are categorized according to the reading level, making it easy for participants to find the texts best suited to their abilities. Although schools in the U.S. assign a reading level to each child (called Lexile), there is no such system in Mexico, so participants are placed corresponding to their school grade. The tournament is open to children in both elementary and high school in Mexico and the U.S.
The winning children will also receive new books for their school library. (Becca Tapert/Unsplash)
“It is important to note that registration must be done by the school or teacher, ensuring that participants are real children committed to reading,” says Ariadna. Anyone who wishes to register after the Feb. 20 deadline that appears on the portal will be able to do so by sending an email to organizers through the 311 Literacy platform. Entry to the tournament is free, and organizers hope more than 10,000 children will sign up.
Mexican pupils in Guanajuato, Tlaxcala, México state and Jalisco have already taken up the challenge, with U.S. schoolchildren in Chicago and Philadelphia joining the tournament too.
The contest will culminate in awards ceremonies at the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores in Mexico and at a separate venue in the United States that is yet to be confirmed. Three different prizes will be awarded in both countries: the child who has read the most minutes, the classroom that has read the most minutes (teachers will also be awarded), and the school with the highest reading average.
Individual first-place finishers will receive an Apple MacBook, with the winning teacher scooping a new MacBook of her own as well. For the winning Mexican group, participants will receive tickets to the Six Flags theme park.
Winning participants will also see their schools awarded new books for their library.
Organizers hope that this competition can greatly bring children closer to reading, in addition to fostering bonds between two countries with a closely shared heritage.
Camila Sánchez Bolaño is a journalist, feminist, bookseller, lecturer, and cultural promoter and is Editor in Chief of Newsweek en Español magazine.
On Feb. 5, the president announced a suite of sweeping constitutional reform proposals that, according to some observers, severely downgrade Mexican democracy. (lopezobrador.org.mx)
In light of President López Obrador’s presentation of 20 constitutional reforms on Feb. 5, the Mexico Institute invited Advisory Board members, fellows and experts to provide analysis and commentary on individual proposals and the broader reform package.
Constitutional Changes
Ambassador Roberta Lajous
Wilson Center Fellow; Researcher, El Colegio de México; former Mexican Ambassador to Austria, Bolivia, Cuba and Spain
From the National Palace, not Congress, President López Obrador (AMLO) announced on Feb. 5 a potpourri of 18 sweeping constitutional reforms that severely downgrade Mexican democracy. If the reforms go ahead, the Supreme Court would be debilitated by having its members openly elected, independent regulatory agencies would disappear, the electoral authority would be back under the control of the president and the ongoing militarization of the police force would be formalized. At the same time, with a clear authoritarian streak, and going against all international standards and recommendations, the instances where individuals could go to prison before being judged are broadened to include even the incorrect filing of taxes. To sweeten the deal, accompanying laws propose pie in the sky pensions, which would be raised by as much as 100% of workers’ final salaries, threatening financial disaster for the treasury. These proposed changes lack the needed majority to be approved by this Congress. Therefore, they will become the electoral platform for AMLO’s handpicked successor, Claudia Sheinbaum. Once again, the president has been successful in setting the agenda for public debate but, this time, at the cost of leaving no oxygen for Sheinbaum to voice her own views.
Since there is no possibility of presidential reelection in Mexico, AMLO is seeking to prolong his power well beyond his six-year term. Sheinbaum, if elected, will have to remain under AMLO’s control and be subjected to the threat of a recently approved poll that could revoke her mandate within two years of taking office. Given the influence AMLO holds over a significant part of the electorate through his daily press conference, it will be a real challenge for the opposition candidate, Xóchitl Gálvez, to make the case against these proposed reforms. However, if anyone can successfully do it, it is her. Xóchitl is a charismatic leader who comes from poverty and discrimination but propelled herself through higher education to become a successful businesswoman and, later, a democratic politician.
Presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez at a campaign event in Ciudad Juárez. (@PAN_CDM_JUAREZ/X)
Mexicans need a new government respectful of checks and balances — not this new constitution that would throw Mexico back to its authoritarian past. The last chance to rectify the course taken by AMLO will be the June 2 election, the biggest Mexico has ever had, where the two full houses of Congress will be elected along with many state legislators, governors and mayors. The unified opposition platform of the three main parties — PAN, PRI and PRD — along with civil society organizations, will present an alternative project. Hopefully they will show the muscle needed for the campaign, which officially starts March 1. Provided they remain united, this coalition could stop the militarization of society and the return to an unrestrained presidential system.
AMLO’s Last-Minute Mini-Sexenio
Alejandro García Magos
Lecturer, University of Toronto
The vertigo of losing power has finally caught up with AMLO. On Feb. 5, a seven-month “mini-sexenio” commenced, during which, at the eleventh hour, AMLO will attempt to fulfill his promise of laying the groundwork for a “transformation” and securing a place in history.
Despite five years and two months having passed without achieving his promised objectives — namely, the reduction of criminal violence and the acceleration of economic growth — it is only now, mere months before relinquishing power, that 20 constitutional reforms are being proposed to finally steer the country towards peace and prosperity.
AMLO is not the first president to try to salvage his legacy at the last minute. José López Portillo tried it in 1982 when, three months before stepping down, he decreed the nationalization of the banking sector, leaving a political and economic mess for his successor, Miguel de la Madrid. Similarly, AMLO is proposing an agenda for the next government and a change of political regime for Mexico, which is, for the time being, still democratic. Indeed, his proposals seek to dismantle the independence of the judiciary, eliminate the autonomy of electoral authorities and militarize public security. AMLO has launched these proposals (that have already foundered in Congress) like a Hail Mary pass into the end zone. It would be amusing if not for the fact that the future of the country is at stake.
A protester displays sign reading “Don’t touch the INE” at during a 2023 march against AMLO’s proposed changes to the National Electoral Institute (INE). (Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)
This package of reforms is an implicit acknowledgment of the shortcomings of AMLO’s government and the fact that time and political capital have run out. This seven-month mini–sexenio can be seen as the tale of a president who missed his chance and now, in the twilight of his administration, seeks to leave a symbolic mark. In the absence of tangible results, laws are being proposed. Regardless of the outcome of these reforms, the quality of life for Mexicans is unlikely to change. Despite the high expectations raised by AMLO six years ago at the beginning of his government, his actual political record is underwhelming. As for the mini–sexenio, what more can be said, except that perhaps the saying about history repeating itself twice, first as tragedy and then as farce, holds true.
The Politics of AMLO’s Reform Proposals
Luis Rubio
Mexico Institute Advisory Board Member; 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.
There are at least three factors that led President López Obrador to send Congress a package of extremely ambitious (and deleterious) constitutional amendments. The first and most obvious one is that this puts him in a position where he can advocate for a vision of the future without violating the letter of the electoral law, even though he’s doing it precisely to circumvent it. The second reason is to provoke an opposition outcry to consolidate his base. The third, and most puzzling, is to control his candidate. While the first two can be summarized as “politics as usual,” the third is the most transcendent, for it underscores the complexity of the coming race.
The context of the president’s thrust is very clear: He has spent the last five years fully devoted to the succession process now underway. Rather than push an ambitious development project, like all his predecessors did (regardless of the project’s respective merit or soundness), President López Obrador is unique in that he is concentrated on two things and two things only: eliminating or neutralizing all or most institutional checks on presidential power in an attempt to recreate the all-powerful presidency of yesteryear. And, building and securing an electoral base to win the 2024 election.
Morena presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum embraced the president’s `proposed reforms, though she arguably had little alternative. (Claudia Sheinbaum/X)
AMLO measures his success or failure by the result of the June 2 election. Now that the election looms, the question is whether he can accomplish his only objective. And the constitutional reforms are an important element in this regard.
The president has by now created a complex relationship with his anointed candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum. For AMLO to reach his goal, she must win the election; however, were she to win, she would have to alter course. The roadmap designed by AMLO will not allow her to be successful as it would only deepen the polarization in which the president thrives. AMLO cannot be repeated; nobody can duplicate his history or skills, thus making it impossible for his successor to replicate his tactics, starting with the permanent attempt to polarize and sow discord.
Sheinbaum has embraced the president’s proposed reforms, for she cannot say otherwise if she wants to win. Yet, by embracing them, she loses the support of many Mexicans who would rather seek a more harmonious government. Thus, the president’s reforms evidence the divergent interests between AMLO and his candidate, which might well create the conditions for a truly competitive presidential race.
The content of the proposed reforms is now the subject of serious analysis and debate, as they would upend not only the attempt to build a democracy over the last several decades, but also a market-based economy embodied in NAFTA/USMCA. Beyond the specifics of the proposed reforms, the politics behind them are clear: The president wants to win the coming election and will stop at nothing to guarantee that result.
This article was originally published by The Mexico Institute at The Wilson Center. A part two will follow here on Mexico News Daily.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mexico News Daily, its owner or its employees.
