The far-right economist Javier Milei is now president-elect of Argentina. (Shutterstock)
Presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez was among the high-profile Mexicans who congratulated Javier Milei on his election victory in Argentina on Sunday, but the senator clarified on Monday that she doesn’t share the views of the president-elect of Latin America’s third largest economy.
Milei, a 53-year-old far-right libertarian political outsider nicknamed “El Loco” (The Madman), prevailed over current Economy Minister Sergio Massa in Sunday’s election in the problem-plagued South American nation.
Presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez campaigns in Ciudad Juárez on Monday. (PAN_CDM_JUAREZ/X)
Gálvez, candidate for the Broad Front for Mexico (FAM) opposition bloc, subsequently declared on social media that “winds [of change] to improve our countries are blowing in Latin America!”
“The Argentine people put a stop to bad government and bad results. My recognition of this historic electoral day. Congratulations to president-elect @JMilei,” she wrote on the X social media platform.
In Ciudad Juárez on Monday, the National Action Party (PAN) senator sought to distance herself in an ideological sense from Milei, an economist and admirer of former U.S. president Donald Trump and ex-president Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil.
“Everyone knows that I’m not from the far right,” she told reporters while campaigning in the northern border city.
PAN Senator Lilly Téllez was another Mexican politician to speak out in support of Milei. (lillytellezg/Facebook)
“Everyone knows that I’m a woman of freedoms. … What I acknowledge is that democracy won in Argentina. … I don’t share Milei’s points of views … but I do recognize that he won a democratic triumph,” Gálvez said.
Among the other high-profile Mexicans who welcomed news of Milei’s victory were PAN Senator Lily Téllez and ultra-conservative actor-turned-presidential hopeful Eduardo Verástegui.
“With strength and hope, I celebrate the triumph of my friend @JMilei,” Verástegui said.
Ultra-conservative Mexican politican Eduardo Verástegui poses with Argentina’s Javier Milei at a conservative conference held in 2022. (EVerastegui/X)
“A new history of freedom is coming for … [the] great country [of Argentina].”
President López Obrador, who last week called Milei an “ultra-conservative fascist,” said on Tuesday that his government respected the decision of the Argentine people, but added that “it’s something that we believe won’t help them.”
“It was an own goal. Although I respect the decision of the people, I don’t agree with right-wing governments,” he said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Alicia Bárcena congratulated Argentina “for a peaceful election day” and asserted that Mexico “will always be on the side of the Argentine people.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs “is ready to work with the new Argentine government,” she added on X.
Samuel García (here with his wife Mariana Rodríguez and baby Mariel) launched his pre-campaign today to run for president of Mexico in 2024. How will this impact the election? (Samuel García/X)
It is hard to measure the right dose of ambition. And ambition in politics is even more delicate — both essential, and dangerously easy to overdose.
Samuel García, Nuevo León’s young, media-savvy governor, seems to be guzzling the stuff.
While earlier this year García had laid to rest rumors about a run for president as the candidate for the Citizens Movement (MC) party — after all, he’s only 35, has an eight-month-old daughter and was elected to govern Nuevo León until 2027 — today he launched his 2024 pre-campaign tour of the country, with wife Mariana Rodríguez and baby Mariel in tow.
On Oct. 23, García officially requested temporary leave from his governorship to pursue the nomination, and while a political spat ensued with his PAN and PRI political rivals in the state Congress, García came out on top.
What does García’s candidacy mean for the presidential election? Does he stand a chance of winning? And if not, will his campaign hurt Gálvez or Sheinbaum more?
Who would vote for García?
Before García made his announcement, various opinion polls included him in the lineup of possible 2024 candidates and he had averaged around 7-9% of voter intent. This puts him in third place, trailing behind Claudia Sheinbaum and Xóchitl Gálvez.
As he is eager to point out, he came up from fourth place in the Nuevo León gubernatorial election of 2021 to win with 36.71% of the vote. He appealed to younger voters, relying on a clever social media strategy along with his influencer wife, and promising to shake up the state’s politics.
However, the party García represents is still a minor player in national politics that received 7% of the vote nationwide in the 2021 federal elections. Citizens Movement (MC) is a center-left party with just 39 seats in Congress (12 senators and 27 deputies), compared to Morena’s 261 seats. But the party has punched above its weight in the national political conversation, partly because of winning the governorships of two populous and economically significant states: Jalisco (Governor Enrique Alfaro) and Nuevo León.
Since García’s victory, Nuevo León has been the beneficiary of increased nearshoring foreign direct investment (FDI) — not surprising given its long-standing industrial economy and proximity to the United States. García has focused on investment as one of the pillars of his government —and has traveled to Europe, Asia and the U.S. to spread the gospel of Nuevo León. The March announcement that Tesla will build a US $5 billion to -$10 billion gigafactory in the state was one of García’s most prominent investment achievements to date.
However, though industrial expansion continues in the state, it has also struggled with increasing violence. In September, Nuevo León reached a rate of 18 murders a day, its highest level this year and since 2021, homicides have increased by 32%.
García would seem to attract the young middle to upper class voter who is socially liberal, but uncomfortable with López Obrador’s statist policies. However, his brash norteño personaand Instagrammable lifestyle could fall fiercely flat in the country’s poorer, more rural and more Indigenous south. He may find he feels more out of place when stopping in Chiapas on his pre-campaign tour, than on his recent visits to South Korea and Japan.
Would García pull voters from Sheinbaum or from Gálvez?
For some of the reasons mentioned above, García seems unlikely to lure even disillusioned morenistas, though he has been careful not to alienate AMLO, taking a different approach than the Broad Front for Mexico (FAM) frontal assault on the popular president. In fact, he focuses many of his jabs at the parties that Gálvez represents, as embodying “old politics.”.
When asked point blank by TV anchor Ciro Gómez Leyva if he agreed with PRI president Alejandro Moreno’s statement that “Morena is a disaster for the country”, García said that while Mexico could be “much better” and that this government has “many areas of opportunity”, he avoided an outright takedown of the ruling party. He did, however, say that Mexico cannot go back to the rule of the PAN and PRI, who “already cheated us.”
On Nov. 8, García posted to his X account supporting the president’s grand plans for reviving passenger trains in Mexico, adding that he had talked about a train route from Monterrey to Texas with the mayor of Laredo. For his part, AMLO said at a recent mañanera press conference that he “always wishes the best for Samuel.”
The voter demographic that supports the PAN-PRI-PRD alliance seems to overlap with the possible García voter, and while Xóchitl too has charisma, her flustered affability may look weak next to the Garcías’ sleek, “we-get-things-done” discourse.
But would García garner the female vote in a race against two women?
He has been careful to include Mariana in his appearances — though in his official announcement video (see below), she looks less than enthused— and speaks often of their joint accomplishments. When he officially registered on Nov. 12, his baby daughter was also there, bouncing on her mother’s lap. He also boasts of creating the first cabinet in Nuevo León’s history with more women than men.
García has very slim chances in the 2024 election, but his candidacy should make the PAN-PRI-PRD leadership nervous. Already at a disadvantage in the polls against Morena, their slice of the electorate could get further cut down by this rival.
Time will tell where García’s ambition leads, but it seems likely he will be a player in the Mexican political game for years to come.
Kate Bohné is chief news editor at Mexico News Daily. You can find her writing on The Mexpatriate.
Two separate incidents between police and criminal gangs saw seven civilians and two police officers killed in gunfire. (Margarito Pérez Retana/Cuartoscuro)
Nine people including two police officers were killed Monday during a morning of violence in Cuernavaca, Morelos, the city government said.
Eight of the deaths occurred in shootouts between a group of criminals and municipal police, while another person was shot dead before those confrontations occurred, according to a statement posted to social media by the Cuernavaca Ministry of Citizen Protection and Assistance (Seprac).
Police intervened in a dispute between a gang of criminals and a group of street drinkers which turned violent shortly after. (Margarito Pérez Retana/Cuartoscuro)
The chain of events began in the early hours of Monday when armed men, traveling in two SUVs and on a motorcycle, attacked a group of people drinking on the street in the Altavista neighborhood of the Morelos capital. One person was killed, another was injured, and the criminals “attempted” to abduct a third person, Seprac said.
Municipal police received reports of the crime and set off in pursuit of the criminals, the ministry said. Police vehicles subsequently came under fire and a “first confrontation” ensued in the neighborhood of Carolina, Seprac said.
In that clash, two police officers were killed and two others were injured. The deceased officers were identified as Juan Carlos Salgado Flores and Francisco Calderón Armenta.
A person traveling in a Jeep Cherokee was also killed in the confrontation in Carolina, while a person on a motorcycle was injured. Police arrested the injured man and seized both the SUV and the motorbike.
Two police officers, Juan Carlos Salgado Flores and Francisco Calderón Armenta were killed in the shootout near the Oxxo convenience store in Carolina. (Margarito Pérez Retana/Cuartoscuro)
Another clash between police and criminals occurred on Emiliano Zapata Avenue in Tlaltenango, one of the 12 original “towns” in Cuernavaca. Five civilians in a Nissan Rogue SUV were killed, Seprac said.
Videos shared on social media by Cuernavaca residents capture the sound of gunshots ringing out.
Cuernavaca Mayor José Luis Urióstegui said that events unfolded “very quickly” and that police responded to the first of act of violence immediately. He said that the lives of injured officers were not in danger.
Another police officer was killed Sunday night when he came under attack in Tetecala, a municipality in the southwest of Morelos near the border with Guerrero. The slain state police officer was identified as Juan Gómez Ruiz. A policewoman was injured while a presumed criminal was killed in the clash.
A second confrontation in Tlaltenango saw five criminals, who were driving in this Nissan Rogue, killed by police. (Charro Negro/X)
As of Nov. 16, at least 377 police officers had been killed in Mexico this year, according to Causa en Común, a Mexico City-based non-government organization that tracks killings of officers. Guanajuato has recorded the highest number of police murders in 2023, followed by Guerrero, where 12 officers and a municipal security secretary were killed in an ambush last month.
Located immediately south of Mexico City, Morelos was the eighth most violent state in Mexico in terms of total homicides in the first 10 months of 2023 with 1,214, according to federal government data.
Hosting Thanksgiving in Mexico? Here’s how to incorporate both cultures into one meal! (Freepik)
Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. I enjoy the feast with loved ones, without the stress of gifts. Historical significance aside, it’s a beautiful tradition promoting gratitude and good food.
Thanksgiving can be celebrated anywhere, including Mexico. Instead of relying on unfamiliar expat groups or American-owned hotels for your meal, why not create your own? With a little imagination and local ingredients, you can host a successful Thanksgiving with a Mexican flair!
Here are 10 of the most popular Thanksgiving dishes in the U.S. and ways to make them more Mexican. This list is not exhaustive. Leave your ideas in the comments below!
Turkey
The centerpiece. The staple. The bird is the star of the Thanksgiving show.
How to do it: There are several ways to make this dish more Mexican.
The bird is the star of the Thanksgiving show. (Unsplash)
Marinate the bird (or tofurky) overnight in a blend of spices including chili powder, cumin, and oregano, and vinegar or citrus.
Joy Hernandez of ArcaTierra suggests pavo en escabeche, a Yucatecan dish of shredded grilled turkey in a stew (recado) of pickled onions, habanero, and lots of black pepper. Therecipecan vary, but most include white vinegar, black peppercorns, cinnamon, oregano, cumin, garlic, and allspice berries.
Make a chili rub with ancho and guajillo chiles. Blend with garlic, honey, orange juice and zest, peppercorns, salt. Pour the mixture over the turkey before roasting.
Gravy
Gravy, juice expelled from cooked turkey thickened with cornstarch and flavored with broth, can be replaced altogether with the most Mexican sauce of them all: mole.
How to do it: Making mole sauce can be time-consuming, especially for the novice Mexican chef-to-be. It combines a long list of spices, nuts, and dried fruits. If you’re up for the challenge, there are plenty of recipes online. If you’re not, simply buy mole paste. Liquify with your choice of broth and any flavoring you deem necessary.
Stuffing
Stuffing is generally made with cubed white bread, celery, carrot, garlic, and herbs.
How to do it: For a Mexican twist, swap traditional ingredients with regional ones. Chop and fry diced jalapenos, carrot, garlic, and celery. Add crumbled chorizo or corn kernels to the mix. Once it’s nice and sizzled, add stock, cubed cornbread, and cilantro. Bake and garnish with cilantro.
Mashed Potatoes
This classic side dish gets its flavor from copious helpings of butter and cream.
How to do it: To Mexify, use butter and either evaporated milk or buttermilk. Blend with cooked garlic, salt, and pepper until you’ve achieved your desired consistency. Roast a few poblano peppers and chop into small pieces. Fold peppers into the potatoes, along with a generous serving of cotija cheese. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes, candied or as a casserole, often include a topping of marshmallows or pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon.
How to do it: Keep the sugar and cinnamon and add a sprinkle of chili powder for a hint of heat. Sprinkle a thin layer of crushed tortilla chips instead of (or alongside) pecans for crunch. Looking for something quick? Buy ready-made camotes from your neighborhood vendor and serve warm with parsley on top. No one will be the wiser.
Cranberry Sauce
An essential side that adds a much needed tang to Thanksgiving’s plethora of heavy, often fatty, dishes.
How to do it: All you need to do to make this crowd-pleaser in the estilo mexicano is add a few dried Chipotle chilis while cooking the berries, sugar, and your choice of spices.
Green Bean Casserole
Green bean casserole is made with green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and crispy fried onions. News to me, as my family opted for steamed beans with sliced almonds and dried cranberries. Boy did I miss out. But I digress.
How to do it: To enjoy this casserole Mexican-style, saute onions, garlic, green beans, jalapeños, and cumin, in that order. Steam for a few minutes before adding chopped tomatoes. When ready, top with queso fresco. Garnish with fresh cilantro and crushed totopos (tortilla chips).
Dinner Rolls
You could replace the rolls with tortillas, or you could avoid the inevitable backlash by adding some kick.
How to do it: Fold in shredded Oaxacan cheese and diced jalapenos to the dough before baking. If you’re not making rolls from scratch, and who can blame you, serve molletes instead! Cut the buns in half, add some butter, and toast until crispy. Add a layer of refried beans and top with Oaxacan cheese.
Cornbread
My family never served cornbread at Thanksgiving, and for that, I’m forever ungrateful. Now that I’m in charge of the menu, I’ll be serving Mexican-style cornbread.
How to do it: Add a touch of cayenne to the dough before baking. For punch, purchase butter, local honey and jalapeños – or if you like it spicy, some habaneros. Whip the butter with a little water. Dice the peppers, seeds removed, and mix into butter until peppers are evenly distributed. Add honey to taste. Make vegan using avocado instead of butter.
Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin pie is essential. It’s basically the turkey of the dessert table.
How to do it: Oh let me count the ways! There are many options. Here are three.
Serve Calabaza en Tacha, a Day of the Dead dish. The recipe is simple: remove seeds and cut a fresh pumpkin into bitesized pieces. Boil with water, piloncillo, cinnamon sticks and orange zest. Once the pumpkin is soft, remove and further boil the liquid until it’s thick enough to drizzle on the pumpkin. Serve with ice cream.
Make Mexican pumpkin pie. Layer pie crust with melted Mexican chocolate. For the pumpkin filling, mix in doses of cayenne pepper, chili powder, and cinnamon. Bake.
If this feels like too much work (just typing it overwhelms me), simply buy a pie and offer homemade Mexican hot chocolate. With or without a splash of tequila. Don’t forget your molinillo, one of your 10 essential Mexican utensils.
Mexican marigolds blend nicely into your Mexican Thanksgiving. (Freepik)
Finally, one for the fancy cooks out there. Puebla-based Chef Abraham Santos, of Casa Bacuuza, suggests his preferred Thanksgiving meal: a Oaxacan-inspired combination of turkey, mashed potatoes, and cranberries. Start with “a good portion of roasted turkey” marinated in hierba de conejo (a quelite grown in Oaxaca’s Central Valley, not a rabbit reduction), garlic, pennyroyal, and gravy. As the sauce simmers, add pickled cranberries and a few of Santos’s favorite Oaxacan chilies – chilhuacle negros. Add a touch of pineapple vinegar and serve over Tehuantepec-style mashed potatoes, baked with vinegar and mustard over low heat for just under 3 hours.
When “everyone at the table leaves their plates clean, that is the purest example of gratitude.”
It’s now time to focus on cozy, seasonal decor. Mexican marigolds blend nicely into your Mexican Thanksgiving. String some papel picado around your dining area in fall-themed colors. Set the table with a bright zarape table runner, mini pumpkins and squash, fresh eucalyptus sprigs and Talavera dishware. Prepare a playlist of Mexican classics.
Most importantly, have plenty of Mexican wine, mezcal, and agua fresca handy to get the party started.
*A note for vegans: Most dairy ingredients can be replaced with nut-based products. Avocado can serve as a substitute for cheese toppings.
¡Buen provecho!
Bethany Platanella is a travel planner and lifestyle writer based in Mexico City. She lives for the dopamine hit that comes directly after booking a plane ticket, exploring local markets, practicing yoga and munching on fresh tortillas. Sign up to receive her Sunday Love Letters to your inbox, peruse her blog, or follow her on Instagram.
Cancún is a wonderful spot to travel alone, or with. your family. (Unsplash)
Thanksgiving is almost here, and while some people are sizing up turkeys for dinner, others may wish to replace the chilly autumn embrace with a warm summer kiss. For those searching for something different this festive season, Mexico offers sun, sea and superb cuisine that can be enjoyed in a safe and culturally-rich travel experience.
According to the 2023 Allianz Partners Top 10 Thanksgiving Destination Index, travelers continue to choose the beaches of Mexico for their holiday breaks. In fact, the top three places on the list for the last four years in a row have all been destinations on the other side of America’s southern border. One of the many reasons why the country is so popular is because of the all-year warm-weather patterns that attract thousands of visitors from cooler climates during the autumn months. They see Mexico as an ideal place to rest and recharge under the sun in a stress-free environment.
With that in mind, here is a list of the top five Thanksgiving getaways in Mexico chosen by the masses, which feature pristine white sand beaches, world-renowned traditional cooking and a healthy taste of culture.
Cancún
It is no wonder why Cancún’s spectacular beaches with powdery white sand stretching as far as the eye can see made the top of the list. Against the mesmerizing backdrop of the Caribbean Sea, the shallow waters create a captivating turquoise-blue panorama, inviting visitors into a world of serenity and tranquility. This award-winning vacation spot is extremely easy to travel to; the Cancún International Airport has daily flights from major cities in the USA, Canada and Europe.
At the heart of Cancún’s allure lies its world-class hotel infrastructure, a testament to luxury and comfort that positions the city as one of the premier destinations for tourists globally. Not only do these accommodations provide a lavish retreat, but they also serve as a gateway to a myriad of experiences catering to every taste and preference.
After the sun goes down, Cancún transforms into a hub of seductive entertainment, ranging from lively nightclubs to cultural performances. The city comes alive with the rhythm of music, dance, and vibrant energy, offering a nightlife that is as diverse as the day is enchanting.
San José Del Cabo
San José del Cabo, Mexico. (Unsplash)
The second-best beach paradise on the list, San José del Cabo is a serene town hidden along the Gulf of California. Nature enthusiasts can explore an expansive estuary in the southeast that is home to over 100 bird species and diverse marine life. The newly developed Puerto Los Cabos is a modern marina connecting to the tranquil village of La Playita, offering golf courses, private homes and resort-style amenities.
The downtown area is filled with fine dining and shopping centers that attract a blend of tourists and locals. The recently refurbished historic center acts as a calming focal point amid the town’s hustle and bustle.
Puerto Vallarta
Third on the list and sitting at the base of the expansive Sierra Madre mountain range, Puerto Vallarta boasts one of the largest and most stunning bays in Latin America. The resort city is an integral part of the renowned Banderas Bay, which measures 26 miles from east to west and 20 miles from north to south.
Puerto Vallarta is just two meters above sea level and shares latitude with Hawaii, which means there is a consistent temperate tropical climate throughout the year. It is a youthful destination where majestic mountains and lush green jungles conjoin to frame one of the most picturesque sunset views in the country.
Riviera Maya
Coba, Quintana Roo, Mexico. (Unsplash)
Stretching over 87 miles along the Mexican Caribbean coast on the eastern edge of the Yucatán peninsula, the Riviera Maya is a haven of untouched beaches and charming towns like Playa del Carmen and Cozumel. Beyond its renowned beaches, the region boasts a network of underground rivers, lagoons and cenotes, set against a backdrop of mangroves and jungle.
Conveniently located just over ten miles from the Cancún International Airport, the Riviera Maya begins in Puerto Morelos and weaves through diverse locales. Tulum, the sole surviving Ancient Maya city perched on the Caribbean Sea’s shores, is only a five-minute drive from the town with the same name. The Riviera Maya concludes in Carrillo Puerto, a charming town blending colonial remnants with rich Mayan traditions.
Yucatán
This southern state in Mexico is still largely unexplored by travelers and remains a hidden gem waiting to be discovered.
A harmonious blend of Mayan heritage, colonial charm and natural wonders awaits visitors who choose Yucatán for their next trip. Archaeological marvels like the UNESCO World Heritage site of Chichen Itzá, vibrant colonial cities like Mérida and Valladolid and perfect, waveless beaches leave visitors spoiled for choice. The region’s cenotes offer refreshing escapes, while ecotourism adventures accompanied by Yucatán’s warm hospitality invite visitors to immerse themselves in local living, creating a culturally rich and unforgettable tourist experience.
The new airline will operate regional jets to Los Mochis, Mazatlán and Guadalajara from their Cabo San Lucas base. (Señor Air)
New regional airline Señor Air has begun selling tickets for flights out of the Cabo San Lucas airport starting on Dec. 8, offering service to popular destinations across Mexico.
The airline says it will start with four weekly flights to Los Mochis, six to Mazatlán, and two to Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, offering 1,086 weekly seats on 14 weekly flights.
The new airline will operate from Los Cabos Airport from December 8th. (Señor Air)
The airline said it also eventually plans to connect Cabo San Lucas with the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) in Mexico City.
With ticket sales now live, the flight ticket prices for the initial routes between Los Cabos and Los Mochis range from 1,900 to 2600 pesos (US $111 to 152), while those to Mazatlán range from 2,200 pesos to 3,300 (US $128 to $192).
The Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacífico, known as El Chepe, is one of few passenger train routes still operating in Mexico — something the presidential decree hopes to change. (Alan Lara via Unsplash)
President López Obrador on Monday published a decree that establishes the provision of passenger train services as a priority for national development, taking a first step toward achieving his goal of restoring Mexico’s passenger train network to its former glory.
Published in the federal government’s official gazette, the decree outlines a plan to recommence passenger train services on seven routes that were previously in operation.
Companies that currently have concessions for freight tracks will have first dibs on operating passenger trains on them, but if they don’t want to do so, the military could be asked to step in.
“We want to make it possible to travel from Cancún to Mexico City by train. From Mexico City to Guadalajara and on to Nayarit, Sinaloa, Sonora, to the border. From Mexico City to Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Monterrey, on to Nuevo Laredo. From Mexico City to Chihuahua, by train,” López Obrador said earlier this month.
Key points of the decree
The decree declares that “the provision of public rail transportation services for passengers on the Mexican railroad system” is a “priority area for national development.”
The president discussed the history of the Mexican rail system and his motives for reestablishing passenger service at press conference earlier this month. (Lopezobrador.org.mx)
Passenger train services “will be given preference” on the rail system, but freight services “will be respected” in accordance with the provisions of the concessions granted to private companies.
The decree states that companies with concessions for freight tracks — namely Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), Ferromex, Ferrosur and Ferrovalle — “will be the first to be invited to present projects for the implementation of passenger train services” and that “those interested must present their proposals to the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation [SICT] by Jan. 15, 2024 at the latest.”
If the concessionaires “don’t present viable proposals in terms of investment, construction time [and] track modernization” or don’t show any interest at all, the federal government, via the SICT, “could grant titles of assignment to the Ministry of National Defense or the Ministry of the Navy given that they already operate the Maya Train and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec train,” the decree says.
López Obrador’s edict also acknowledges that non-concessionaire private companies “that present proposals and are interested in providing passenger train services” could be considered.
This map shows the seven rail routes that will first be revived for passenger travel. (SICT)
Which passenger train routes will be revived first?
The decree says that the government will initially issue concessions for the following seven routes:
Mexico City-Veracruz city-Coatzacoalcos
Felipe Ángeles International Airport-Pachuca
Mexico City-Querétaro city–León-Aguascalientes
Manzanillo-Colima-Guadalajara-Irapuato
Mexico City-San Luis Potosí-Monterrey-Nuevo Laredo
Stations along those routes that were in operation before 1995 must be considered “preferably,” the decree says.
CPCK “directly engaged” with the federal government
Canadian Pacific Kansas City said in a statement on Saturday that it was reviewing a draft of the decree and “remains directly engaged with the Mexican federal government regarding potential passenger rail service on certain existing freight rail corridors.”
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd., one of Mexico’s major private railway concessionaires, manages a rail network that runs from Mexico to Canada. (Canadian Pacific Kansas City)
The statement noted that CPKC de México previously reached an agreement with the government “to perform a study of what is required for the proposed new passenger rail service on the right of way of the corridor between Mexico City and Querétaro.”
“The draft decree, which is expected to become effective by November 20, 2023, also identifies the San Luis Potosí-Monterrey-Laredo corridor for the proposed passenger rail service. As required by our concession, CPKC de México will work closely with the Mexican federal government to evaluate passenger service on that corridor,” CPKC said.
The company acknowledged the government’s commitment to “respect” freight rail services and as a result does not expect an “adverse impact” on its concession.
“CPKC has extensive experience hosting passenger rail services in multiple locations across its network in the United States and Canada while efficiently managing freight service,” the statement added.
A jab at the Zedillo government
After outlining 17 “main” passenger train routes that previously operated in Mexico, the decree states that “it really was a disgrace that the president Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, perpetuator of the policies … [of Carlos Salinas de Gortari], privatized railroads in Mexico” in 1995.
In May of that year, the Rail Service Regulation Law was promulgated, allowing the executive to award [concessions for] 84.5% of existing main lines to private companies,” the decree says.
At the end of the 1990s, the federal government granted concessions for tracks across Mexico, “keeping only the Isthmus of Tehuantepec railroad under its control,” it adds.
“In other words, 17,484 kilometers of tracks were essentially handed over to two companies … and passenger train service was canceled,” the decree says.
The decree criticized the administration of former president Ernesto Zedillo for giving railway concessions to private companies. (Wikimedia Commons)
While criticizing the Zedillo government on Nov. 8, López Obrador noted that it did at least enter into an agreement with concessionaires under which the Mexican state retained the right to use freight tracks for passenger trains.
His decree states that restoring passenger train services would improve “quality of life, well-being and people’s mobility,” adding that train travel is cheaper, “less polluting” and safer than other modes of travel.
A train-loving president
At the opening of a new park in Mérida on Sunday, López Obrador said that traveling by train is “less stressful” and “more relaxing” that traveling by plane, helicopter or bus.
He also asserted — not for the first time — that the Maya Train railroad, which is scheduled to begin operations in December, is “without doubt the most important public [infrastructure] project being built in the world today.”
The government is also close to finishing work on the modernization of rail tracks across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec between Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, and Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz.
Builders at work on the Maya Train. (Lopezobrador.org.mx)
“With what we’re doing [with those projects] and two or three other trains, we’re going to leave 3,000 kilometers of tracks for passenger trains [before we leave office in 2024]. We began the recovery of passenger trains,” López Obrador said Nov. 8.
He acknowledged that creating a new state-owned train company to offer additional passenger services won’t be possible before he leaves office next October, but added that a future government could create and “directly” run new passenger train services, “as the Maya Train will be run, as the Isthmus train will be run.”
The military, as Monday’s decree indicates, would likely operate additional state-run passenger train services if freight companies decide against it, although López Obrador’s successor — most likely Claudia Sheinbaum or Xóchitl Gálvez — could devise a different plan.
López Obrador has relied heavily on the armed forces during his almost five years as president, using them for a range of non-traditional tasks including infrastructure construction and the management of customs, ports and airports.
An illustration of Mexica drummers alongside Nahuatl text in Book 4 of the Codex. (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana / MiBACT)
A treasure-trove of knowledge on 16th-century Indigenous Mexican culture is now available to the global public, via a new digitization of the Florentine Codex in Nahuatl, Spanish and English.
The Codex is a 12-book encyclopedia of Mexica (Aztec) life, written between 1575 and 1577 by Nahua scholars, based on interviews with elders who lived before and during the Spanish conquest. (Nahua refers to the Nahuatl-speaking Indigenous people of Mexico and Central America, a group that includes the Mexica.)
An feather-working artisan at work, as show in Book 9 of the Codex. (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana / MiBACT)
It also contains nearly 2,500 images by Nahua artists, depicting the daily life and mythology of their people. It was co-created and translated into Spanish by the Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún, who hoped that knowledge of Nahua culture would help convert them to Christianity.
Although the Codex was first digitized a decade ago, a project led by UCLA’s Latin American Institute and the Getty Research Institute has produced a new, easily navigable and searchable version, with the languages modernized and a parallel English translation.
The project is the result of seven years of work by 68 researchers, led by Mesoamerican art expert Kim N. Richter. The collaborators included Indigenous scholars who deciphered not only the ancient Nahua text, but also the various logograms — pictures used to represent words — embedded in its artwork.
“[The Codex] is the most remarkable cultural and intellectual product of the early Americas,” said Kevin Terraciano, chair of the UCLA history department and co-founder of the project. “The fact that many Nahua people in Mexico, including Nahua scholars who are working with us on the initiative, did not even know about the Florentine Codex before we began collaborating, suggests the real value of the project.”
A group of people share a meal of water fowl and tortillas, as shown in book 11 of the Codex. (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana / MiBACT)
One of the many fascinating aspects of the Codex is that the Spanish and Nahuatl texts are not direct translations of each other, but separate texts that present different views. The new translations will therefore allow non-Náhuatl-speaking people to read for the first time its Indigenous authors’ perspective on the colonization period.
Eduardo de la Cruz Cruz, a collaborator of the project and director of the Institute of Teaching and Ethnological Research of Zacatecas, described in a Getty symposium the impact of presenting the Codex to primary and secondary school children in Nahuatl-speaking communities in La Huasteca, a region along Mexico’s Gulf coast.
He said the children had been brought up with access only to European sources that described their ancestors as ignorant, violent and evil. Reading the Codex allowed the children to hear their ancestors’ own voices for the first time and find new pride in their history and culture.
“Believing that your heritage is inferior and that civilization came from outside must make you feel very small as a young Indigenous person, especially when you have experienced discrimination,” Richter said. “We are eager to see how scholars will utilize this resource to better understand the agency of the individual authors and artists who worked on the Codex — Sahagún and his many Nahua collaborators.”
The Morena party 2024 candidate shared her happiness on Instagram last week, first with a teaser photo of two wedding bands and the message “I have news for you…”
The couple married in a small ceremony in Mexico City. (Claudia Sheinbaum/X)
On Friday, the couple was married in an intimate civil ceremony before family and friends in Mexico City. “We are so happy,” Sheinbaum wrote on social media.
Their romantic journey was unveiled during a 2022 radio interview, in which the then-mayor of Mexico City disclosed that she had been in a six-year relationship with Tarriba and that the two were engaged.
Their shared history, dating back to their days at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), found renewed vigor after years of separation. In 2018, during her campaign for Mexico City mayor, Sheinbaum hinted at the relationship but kept her partner’s identity under wraps.
Last year, Sheinbaum recounted their reconnection in 2016: “I was head of the delegation in Tlalpan [borough of Mexico City]. We saw each other in 2016 around Christmas, and we hit it off very well. He returned to Spain, then he came to Mexico again, and then I went to Spain for about five days to see him there, to see where he lived and so on, and that’s when he tells me, ‘I want to go to Mexico with you.’”
The former mayor broke the news last week in an Instagram post showing their wedding bands. (Claudia Sheinbaum/Instagram)
Tarriba, who turned 61 on Sept. 1, has a Ph.D. in physics from UNAM and works as an economic risk analyst.
Sheinbaum, who turned 61 on June 24, earned an undergraduate degree in physics followed by two postgraduate degrees in energy engineering from UNAM. She spent for years at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California completing work for her doctoral thesis.
Sheinbaum was previously married, from 1987 to 2016, to politician Carlos Ímaz Gispert. Together they have one daughter, Mariana Imaz, 35, who earned a Ph.D. in philosophy at University of California, Santa Cruz and is now the academic coordinator of humanities at UNAM-Boston. Sheinbaum also has a very close relationship with Rodrigo Imaz, Carlos Ímaz Gispert’s son from a former marriage.
Sheinbaum is seeking to become the first female president of Mexico, with the election set for June 2, 2024. Her main competitor is Xóchitl Gálvez of the Broad Front for Mexico (FAM).Although Sheinbaum is Jewish,nothing on social media indicated the wedding had any Jewish touches. Sheinbaum is generally very quiet about her Judaism.
Almost US $5.5 billion in FDI was allocated to the auto manufacturing industry between January and September this year, a 67.7% increase over 2022. (Audi México)
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Mexico’s automotive industry surged in the first three quarters of 2023 to reach a record annual high three months before the end of the year.
Economy Ministry (SE) data shows that US $5.44 billion in FDI was allocated to the manufacture of cars, trucks and other vehicles between January and September, a 67.7% increase compared to the same period of 2022.
The new BMW factory in San Luis Potosí, which will build many of the German giant’s new EVs. (BMW México)
The previous annual record for auto sector FDI was $4.29 billion in 2019. By the end of September, that amount had already been exceeded by 26.7%
The increase in FDI in the automotive industry comes as more and more foreign companies that operate in the sector take the decision to establish a presence in Mexico or expand their existing operations here.
Tesla’s announcement in March that it would build a $5-10 billion electric vehicle “gigafactory” in Nuevo León was undoubtedly the most prominent development in Mexico’s auto sector this year, but a number of other companies have also recently decided to invest significant amounts of capital here.
Proximity to the United States, competitive labor costs and benefits associated with the USMCA free trade pact all make Mexico an attractive location for auto companies.
A total of just over $39 billion in FDI has flowed into Mexico’s automotive industry since 2013, according to SE data compiled by the El Economista newspaper.
That investment has helped spur production, which, in turn, has allowed vehicle exports to increase.
Manufacturers from across the world have invested more than US $39 billion since 2013. (Ford)
According to the International Trade Administration, a U.S. government agency, Mexico’s automotive industry employs over 1 million people and contributes to 3.6% of the country’s GDP and 18% of manufacturing GDP.
