The peso has depreciated considerably against the US dollar since the June 2 elections in Mexico, increasing the value of dollar transfers when converted to pesos. (Graciela López Herrera/Cuartoscuro)
Banxico reported Monday that US $5.61 billion in remittances flowed into Mexico in July, a 1% decline compared to the same month of 2023 and a 9.6% drop compared to June.
Despite the year-over-year and month-over-month declines, the remittances total last month was the second-highest sum ever for the month of July.
Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis at Banco Base, attributed the declines to “the deterioration of the labor market in the United States.”
The vast majority of remittances to Mexico come from the United States, where millions of Mexicans live and work.
In the first seven months of 2024, remittances totaled US $36.94 billion, a 2.9% increase compared to the same period of last year.
Mexicans abroad sent a record-breaking US $63.31 billion home last year.
In early 2024, the strength of the Mexican peso diminished the purchasing power of remittances sent to Mexico’s families. However, the peso has depreciated considerably against the US dollar since the June 2 elections in Mexico, increasing the value of dollar transfers when converted to pesos.
🟣Mexico receives a historic amount of remittances, $6.213 billion, with an annual increase of 11.3% (June 2024). Of these, 96% come from the United States. 💸The majority of those receiving remittances live in low-income households.
➡️ https://t.co/0B16CNl8Qxpic.twitter.com/DzsVP1wfdN
More than 6 million Mexicans depend on remittances to make ends meet, according to the bank BBVA. Their value has increased significantly in recent years, rising almost 70% between 2019 and 2023.
BBVA is forecasting that Mexico will receive US $66.5 billion in remittances this year, a figure that would represent 3.7% of the country’s GDP. Mexico is the world’s second-largest recipient of remittances after India.
He often describes Mexican migrants who send money home as “heroes.”
Remittance data in detail
In the first seven months of the year, 99% of the money sent to Mexico in remittances was transferred electronically. The remaining 1% was sent in cash or via money orders.
The $5.61 billion sent to Mexico in July was transferred in 14 million transactions. The average amount of a single remittance was $402, 4% lower than the record high of $419 in June.
A total of $796 million was sent out of Mexico in remittances in the first seven months of the year, a 31.7% increase compared to the same period of 2023.
The lower house of Congress was blocked by court workers protesting President López Obrador's judicial reform bill on Tuesday morning. (Cuartoscuro)
Hundreds of court workers blocked access to the lower house of federal Congress on Tuesday morning as they seek to prevent lawmakers from discussing the government’s judicial reform proposal.
Some 600-700 judicial employees formed human chains outside the Chamber of Deputies in Mexico City, according to reports.
The court workers are attempting to prevent the discussion of the judicial reform in the lower house of federal Congress, where Morena holds a supermajority. (Cuartoscuro)
A debate on the controversial judicial reform proposal — which would allow citizens to directly elect Supreme Court justices and other judges — was scheduled to commence in the lower house at 10 a.m.
Patricia Aguayo, a spokesperson for the court workers, told the Reforma newspaper that she was aware that some lawmakers with the ruling Morena party had stayed overnight at the Chamber of Deputies, but protesters were intent on not allowing other deputies into the legislature.
“We’re forming blockades so that no one enters the Chamber of Deputies,” she said.
Aguayo said she had heard of Morena’s plan to hold Tuesday’s legislative session in an alternative venue.
Patricia Aguayo (left) says the court workers will continue to block access to the lower house of Congress the rest of Tuesday and into Wednesday. (Cuartoscuro)
“They can go to hell to hold their session, but here in the Chamber of Deputies they won’t convene today or tomorrow,” she said.
Morena’s leader in the lower house, Ricardo Monreal, said there are various places where lawmakers could convene to consider the reform bill sent to Congress by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in February.
“On other occasions we moved to [the business district of] Santa Fe, where there are two alternative venues, or we could even convene in a central hotel or somewhere else near the city, we have no problem [doing that]. We don’t want to cause a confrontation, it’s not worth it,” he said in a video message posted to X.
“I’ve asked my colleagues, the deputies, to not try to enter [the Chamber of Deputies],” Monreal added.
Ricardo Monreal, the Morena party leader in the lower house, shared a video on his X account on Tuesday morning. (Ricardo Monreal/X)
The lawmaker posted another video to his X account later on Tuesday morning announcing that the legislative session will be held in the Magdalena Mixhuca community recreational center in the Iztacalco borough.
As of Sept. 1, Morena and its allies have a supermajority in the lower house, allowing them to approve constitutional reform proposals without the support of opposition lawmakers.
Critics of the judicial reform proposal assert that its approval would undermine the independence of the judiciary.
If the bill is approved — which appears likely as Morena and its allies are very close to a supermajority in the Senate — thousands of judges including all Supreme Court justices would be elected next year. Candidates would be nominated by the president, the Congress and the judiciary itself.
President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, who will take office on Oct. 1, supports the reform proposal, which was modified last month.
She has asserted that the sitting president will have less of a say in the appointment of Supreme Court justices, not more, as critics of the bill argue.
Claudia Sheinbaum, seen here with Ricardo Monreal at a press conference, is supporting the judicial reform bill and says it “guarantees autonomy” for the judiciary. (Cuartoscuro)
“The president will no longer have a hand in appointing justices,” she said last month.
“… It’s a very complete process,” Sheinbaum said, referring to both candidate selection and judicial elections.
“It’s new, but it has nothing to do with this idea … that [judges] are now going to be more aligned to the president. … It’s a complete proposal that guarantees autonomy [for the judiciary],” she said.
United States Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said in a Aug. 22 statement that the “popular direct election of judges is a major risk to the functioning of Mexico’s democracy.”
In the first six months of the year, Mexico exported over US $9 billion worth of goods to Canada. (Shutterstock)
While the majority of Mexico’s export revenue comes from products shipped to the United States, earnings from Mexican exports to Canada have increased at a faster rate in recent years, hitting a record of more than $9 billion in the first half of 2024.
The value of Mexican goods exported to Canada has quickly risen in recent years. (Omar Martínez/Cuartoscuro)
Economy Ministry (SE) data shows that Mexico’s export revenue from products sent to Canada increased 17.2% annually in 2021; 19.3% in 2022; and 15.6% in 2023.
The growth in earnings from Mexican exports shipped to Canada continued in the first six months of 2024, increasing 9.5% annually to reach $9.19 billion, a new record for the period.
While that amount only accounts for just over 3% of Mexico’s total export revenue between January and June, Canada was Mexico’s second largest market for exports in the first half of the year, behind the United States.
Just like Mexico-U.S. trade, commerce between Mexico and Canada is governed by the USMCA treaty. (Cuartoscuro)
As is the case with Mexico-United States trade, trade between Mexico and Canada is governed by the USMCA, the North American free trade pact that superseded NAFTA in 2020.
What does Mexico export to Canada?
Mexico’s top exports to Canada in 2023 were all manufactured in the country’s vast automotive sector.
According to the SE, Mexico’s No. 1 export to Canada last year was cars, followed by transport vehicles, auto parts, engines and tractors.
Cars were Mexico’s top export to Canada in the first half of the year. (Gobierno de México)
Among the other products Mexico exports to Canada are medical instruments, fruit and alcoholic beverages.
The total value of Mexico’s exports to Canada last year was a record high $18.01 billion, according to the SE.
How much does Mexico spend on Canadian imports?
SE data shows that Mexico imported Canadian products worth $13.21 billion in 2023.
Mexico thus recorded a trade surplus of $4.89 billion with Canada last year.
The value of Mexico’s imports from Canada in 2023 was also a record high, as was the size of Mexico’s trade surplus with its USMCA partner.
Meat, wheat and auto parts are a few of the top products Mexico imports from Canada. (Jason Grant/Unsplash)
In the first six months of this year, Canadian imports were worth $6.66 billion. Meanwhile, Canada’s share of Mexico’s market for imports in the period was 2.19%.
Mexico’s trade surplus with Canada in the first half of the year was $2.52 billion.
What does Mexico import from Canada?
According to the SE, Canada’s most lucrative exports to Mexico in 2023 were auto parts, chemical reactants and accelerants, motor vehicles, meat, wheat and aluminum.
Mexico on track to set a new exports record in 2024
As MND reported last week, it appears likely that the annual value of Mexico’s global exports will exceed $600 billion for the first time ever in 2024.
The national statistics agency INEGI reported last Tuesday that the value of Mexican exports in the first seven months of the year was $354.17 billion, a 4.3% increase compared to the same period of 2023.
Mexican authorities hope making rides available to some migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. will result in fewer people making the dangerous journey on foot. (Damián Sánchez/Cuartoscuro)
Two days after three migrants were killed while walking along a Oaxaca highway, the Mexican government announced a plan to provide escorted bus rides to the United States border for migrants who have been granted an asylum appointment by U.S. authorities.
Mexico’s National Immigration Institute (INM) will provide bus service from the southern cities of Villahermosa (Tabasco) and Tapachula (Chiapas) to non-Mexican migrants who have successfully secured an asylum consultation with U.S. authorities.
The CBP One smartphone application is now available in southern Mexico, allowing recent arrivals to begin trying to make a U.S. asylum appointment as soon as they cross the border from Guatemala. (@AgendaMigrante/X)
The new service came about after the U.S. government expanded access to its CBP One app, making it available in southern Mexico on Aug. 23.
Now, migrants eager to make it to the United States can use the app to apply for appointments with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection asylum service as soon as they cross into Mexico from Guatemala.
The Mexican government hopes that the bus rides help discourage some migrants from making the arduous journey north on foot. After last week’s incident in which the three migrants were killed, activists had urged Mexico to do more to protect migrant caravans.
Access to the essential app had previously been restricted to central and northern Mexico, prompting migrants seeking asylum to travel as far north as Mexico City before trying to make appointments.
When CBP One was only available in central and northern Mexico, migrants arriving at the southern border had to travel farther north to make U.S. asylum appointments. (Damian Sánchez Jesús/Cuartoscuro)
According to The Associated Press, Mexico had long been asking the U.S. to expand the app’s access to the south in an attempt to relieve the pressure migrants feel to trek hundreds of miles north to the capital. It is 1,158 kilometers (719 miles) from the border city of Tapachula to Mexico City.
The Mexican government hopes that expanded access to the CBP One app will encourage migrants to wait in southern Mexico instead of seeking shelter in Mexico City, where migrants have set up tent cities in plazas near bus terminals in the capital.
However, migrants — many of whom carry debts for their trip — have complained that there are few jobs available in southern Mexico for a wait that can last months, the AP reported. The lack of work opportunities and inadequate housing in southern cities have pushed migrants north.
Waiting in Mexico City is also safer than waiting at the U.S. border where cartels have been known to abduct and ransom migrants. In addition, some undocumented migrants — even those with appointments — told the AP stories about others being apprehended by Mexican authorities at the U.S. border and being shipped south, missing their appointments.
In addition to the bus service, local, state and federal law enforcement will provide security, and meals will be provided during transit. The government will also provide each migrant with a 20-day transit permit affording them legal status while in Mexico.
These recent events come just as the state of Oaxaca announced it was considering banning migrants after some towns along the preferred route north reported robberies that were attributed to the migrants.
Zarza rings the champions bell after her win at the French national stadium in Paris. (Conade)
Shot putter Gloria Zarza Guadarrama has given Mexico its first gold medal of the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, which opened last week and will conclude on Sunday.
Zarza, a 40-year-old from the state of México, won the F54 shot put on Monday with a top throw of 8.06 meters from her wheelchair. Of seven competitors, she was the only one who cleared the eight-meter barrier, surpassing it twice in her six attempts.
Zarza was the only shot putter in her category to pass the 8-meter mark. (Conade)
The silver went to Elizabeth Gomes Rodrigues of Brazil (7.82 meters), and Nurkhon Kurbanova of Uzbekistan took the bronze (7.75 meters).
F54 refers to a disability classification for people who compete events such as discus, shot put and javelin from a seated position. Many have spinal cord injuries.
Zarza, who has a hip dislocation resulting from polio, took up sports at age 28, starting with basketball and moving into shot put and other field events.
Her winning distance at the Stade de France equaled the 8.06 meters she achieved at the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago, which earned her a silver medal there.
“I feel very happy, very pleased [to win] the first gold for Mexico,” said Zarza, a native of San Miguel Zinacantepec, México, who celebrated her 40th birthday on Aug. 20. “I didn’t hold back. I gave everything until the last moment.”
“In the stands, I saw some people carrying the Mexican flag and shouting my name,” she added. “I don’t know them, but how great to know that there are Mexican people here.”
In May of this year, Zarza established she’d be the one to beat in Paris by placing first at the World Championships in Kobe, Japan, with a toss of 8.04 meters. Now three months later, she has a Paralympic gold, as well.
Mexican Paralympic swimmer Haideé Aceves Pérez of Guadalajara has won two of Mexico’s three silver Paralympic medals in Paris. (Copame)
“I have worked hard for this,” Zarza said. “I always told myself that I had to train: There is no escaping the pain, there is no tiredness. I always woke up dreaming of [the gold] medal.”
With six days to go at this year’s Paralympics, the Mexican contingent has one gold, three silver and five bronze medals. Each includes “Paris” and “2024” written in universal Braille.
With a total of nine medals through Monday, Mexico’s team of 37 women and 30 men was tied with Iran for 21st in total medal count. The table was topped by China (85 medals/42 gold) followed by Great Britain (53/29) and the United States (42/13).
Mexico’s medal haul includes two silver medals by swimmer Haideé Aceves Pérez, a 31-year-old from Guadalajara, Jalisco. She placed second in both the 50-meter and 100-meter women’s backstroke events in S2, a category for athletes who have limited or no use of their arms, hands or legs.
Aceves began swimming as a therapy for multiple arthrogryposis, a congenital disease that causes limitations in arm and leg movement. She’ll also be competing in the S3 100-meter freestyle, starting with heats on Tuesday.
At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, Mexico placed 16th in total medal count with 22 (seven gold, two silver, 13 bronze).
Mexico's president gave his sixth and final report to the nation on Sunday. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
Poverty reduction.
The creation of a public health system that is “better” than Denmark’s.
Economic growth above 3% in the post-pandemic years.
The establishment of “the foundations for transformation that the country needed.”
These are some of the achievements — or alleged achievements — that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) highlighted during a two-hour-long address in Mexico City’s central square on Sunday.
In front of a large crowd of supporters exactly one month before the end of his six-year term as president, the 70-year-old Tabasco native delivered his sixth and final report to the nation, an annual State of the Union-style address.
López Obrador — an indefatigable orator who has held weekday morning press conferences throughout his presidency — declared near the end of his lengthy speech that he would retire next month with a “calm conscience” and as a “very happy” man.
“First of all, nothing makes me happier than having achieved … the reduction of poverty and inequality in the country,” the president said. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
“First of all, nothing makes me happier than having achieved … the reduction of poverty and inequality in the country,” the president said.
“I’m also relaxed about leaving office because she to whom I will hand over the presidential sash … is an exceptional, experienced, honest, well-intentioned, good-hearted woman who supports the foundational principles of our movement of transformation,” López Obrador said.
“[She’s an] authentic defender of equality, of freedom, of justice, of democracy, of sovereignty. Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo — presidenta!”
‘100,000 Mexicans are lifted out of poverty every month’
AMLO, a self-styled champion of Mexico’s most disadvantaged people, asserted that an additional 100,000 people per month fell into poverty during the six-year terms of former presidents Felipe Calderón (2006-12) and Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-18).
Mexico’s president-elect “is an exceptional, experienced, honest, well-intentioned, good-hearted woman who supports the foundational principles of our movement of transformation,” López Obrador said of Claudia Sheinbaum, who sat front row.(Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
“In contrast, during our government, 100,000 Mexicans are lifted out of poverty every month,” López Obrador told supporters in Constitution Square, commonly known as the Zócalo.
Poverty increased during the first half of López Obrador’s presidency, largely due to the economic impact of the COVID pandemic, but declined significantly in the second half.
“According to official figures, a rich person earned, on average, 35 times more than a poor person in the times of Calderón. Now the difference has declined to 15 times [more],” López Obrador said.
“The minimum wage has increased more than 100% in real terms, something that hadn’t happened in the past 40 years.”
AMLO also emphasized the financial support his government has provided to millions of Mexicans via welfare programs such as the old age pension and disability support schemes, and employment programs.
Supporters gathered en masse on Sunday to say “Adiós AMLO.” (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
He said that just under 3 million young Mexicans have benefited from the government’s 132-billion-peso (US $6.6 billion) investment in the Youths Building the Future apprenticeship scheme, and that 433,000 campesinos receive monthly payments for their participation in the Sowing Life reforestation program.
“Let it be heard loud and clear, let it resonate far and wide, [Sowing Life] is the most important reforestation program in the world,” López Obrador said.
‘This public health system is now the most efficient in the world’
López Obrador noted that 23 of Mexico’s 32 federal entities have signed on to the government’s universal health scheme known as IMSS-Bienestar.
“This public health system is now the most efficient in the world,” he claimed without providing any hard evidence to back up his assertion.
“I said that it was going to be the best, that it was going to be like [the health system] in Denmark. No, it’s not like [the health system] in Denmark, it’s better,” López Obrador said.
“According to our calculations, we’ve saved around two trillion pesos (US $101 billion) during the six-year term by not allowing corruption,” he said.
During his sixth report to the nation, AMLO asserted that the government’s crackdown on fuel theft has “generated savings of 342 billion pesos.” (National Guard/X)
The government’s crackdown on fuel theft — a crime in which a number of state oil company employees have been found to be complicit — has “generated savings of 342 billion pesos,” AMLO said.
“That amount, 342 billion pesos [US $17.3 billion], is what construction of the Dos Bocas refinery cost the nation,” he said.
López Obrador also highlighted a range of austerity measures his government has implemented, including reducing the salaries of federal officials, eliminating “extravagant” pensions for past presidents and abolishing more than 100 public trusts.
‘Mexico is one of the most attractive countries in which to invest’
Although there are major concerns among investors about the government’s judicial reform proposals and other bills that seek to change the constitution, López Obrador asserted that “Mexico is considered one of the most attractive countries in which to invest and do business” — a view also expressed by some high-profile United States business figures.
What AMLO didn’t mention is that the vast majority of foreign investment in Mexico in 2023 and 2024 has come from the reinvestment of profits from companies that already have a presence here.
Some experts regard the low levels of “new investment” as concerning given that Mexico is supposedly in the midst of a once-in-a-generation economic opportunity as a result of the nearshoring phenomenon.
AMLO noted that Mexico suffered economically as a result of the COVID pandemic, with the economy contracting 8.5% in 2020.
However, despite also suffering from the “global crisis” precipitated by the Russia-Ukraine war, the Mexican economy has recovered, he said.
“From 2021 to now, we’ve grown by 3.4% per year on average. In the six-year period of government, even with the pandemic … we’re going to end with average growth of 1% [per year], something truly exceptional in the face of an extremely difficult economic environment in the country and the world,” López Obrador said.
AMLO celebrated Mexico’s economic growth and competitiveness as a nearshoring partner. (Continental)
“We’re one week away from inaugurating the entire Maya Train, the whole circuit,” he said.
“It will run 1,554 kilometers,” López Obrador said, noting also that the project, which has faced criticism on environmental grounds, involved the construction of 34 stations in five states: Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Chiapas.
The government invested 515 billion pesos (US $26 billion) in the railroad without taking on any debt, he said, adding that the project created more than 660,000 jobs.
Among the other infrastructure projects López Obrador lauded were:
AMLO assured his audience on Sunday that the “whole circuit” of the Maya Train will be inaugurated in one week. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
‘Federal crimes have declined 24.8%’
López Obrador ran through a range of statistics that show that crime has declined during his six-year term of government.
“Federal jurisdiction crimes have declined 24.8%,” AMLO said, comparing 2024 data to that of 2018, the year he took office.
Homicide numbers have declined 18%, he said, without mentioning that more people have been murdered in his six-year term of government than in any other comparable period on record.
López Obrador — who frequently blames persistent security problems on the situation he inherited from previous governments — also cited significant double-digit declines in the incidence of robbery, femicide, vehicle theft and kidnapping.
“During the six-year term, we’ve maintained an average of 1,200 arrests of presumed criminals per day,” he added.
“The National Guard was created, and it has 135,471 well-trained and disciplined members,” said López Obrador, who also highlighted that his government’s security strategy — the so-called “hugs, not bullets” approach” — has led to a decline in confrontations between security forces and presumed criminals.
“In contrast to what happened during the neoliberal governments, the people are not repressed now, massacres aren’t carried out [by security forces], we don’t torture, we don’t kidnap anyone, the violation of human rights isn’t tolerated and a narco-state doesn’t exist like in … the previous six-year period of government [when Calderón was in office],” he said, without mentioning that soldiers and National Guard personnel have been accused of committing crimes, including murder, during his time in office.
López Obrador also said that progress has been made in the case of the 43 students who disappeared in Guerrero in 2014, although there is still considerable uncertainty about what happened to the young men.
‘Raise your hand those who think that it is better for the people to elect judges’
As thousands of people protested his proposed judicial reform on Mexico’s emblematic Paseo de la Reforma boulevard, López Obrador sought to demonstrate widespread support for the controversial initiative via a show of hands.
During his address, the president asked for a “show of hands” of those in favor of his proposed judicial reform. Most obliged. (Alberto Roa/Cuartoscuro)
“Raise your hands those who think that it’s better for the president and the senators to choose the [Supreme Court] justices and the judges. Raise your hands. I don’t see anyone,” the president said.
“Raise your hands those who think it’s better for the people to elect the judges,” he directed his supporters, known colloquially as AMLOvers.
“… This helps to understand the sentiment of the people,” AMLO said after the crowd reacted exactly as he expected.
He subsequently suggested that “our neighbors and friends” in the United States should take notice of the demonstration of support for the reform proposal.
Among those “friends” is U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar, who recently earned a rebuke from the president after he criticized the proposed reform in a strongly-worded statement.
‘We’ve set the bases for the transformation that the country needed’
During the closing remarks to his marathon speech, López Obrador declared that his government has “set the bases for the transformation that the country needed.”
AMLO asserted that his administration has separated “economic power from political power” and served as a government that represents all Mexicans, rather than the nation’s elite.
“We need to continue with this policy, [we need] an authentic democracy, not a simulation, not an oligarchy with a facade of democracy,” he said.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
* Previous annual reports
Click on the links below to read MND articles on López Obrador’s first five annual reports.
The National Guard arrived shortly after the fight broke out at Las Morismas de Bracho. (Adolfo Vladimir/Cuartoscuro)
One of the most important religious festivals in the state of Zacatecas was suspended on Sunday after a brawl broke out among a few of the nearly 30,000 participants.
Approximately 150,000 people were on hand for the conclusion of the four-day event known as Las Morismas de Bracho (The Moors of Bracho) when a fight between two participating youths escalated, threatening to turn the reenactment into a melee.
Four people were reported injured — though none seriously — and one person was arrested. (Adolfo Vladimir/Cuartoscuro)
Federal, state and municipal authorities were on the scene quickly to prevent further escalation, including members of the National Guard.
In consultation with state and local Civil Protection agents, organizers then suspended the remainder of the festival. Four people were reported injured — though none seriously — and one person was arrested.
Celebrated since 1824, Las Morismas de Bracho combines oral tradition, street theater and folklore to re-enact the medieval battles between Muslims and Christians known as the Crusades, although the festival is dedicated to St. John the Baptist.
According to the news outlet Imagen Zacatecas, two youths who had been fighting earlier in the day came to blows just as the performance was about to culminate. The two allegedly intoxicated antagonists then started swinging their prop shotguns, and bottles and rocks were thrown as a few other participants joined in.
Thousands of participants dress in costumes that range from Roman centurions to members of the French army that invaded Mexico in the 1860s. (Adolfo Vladimir/Cuartoscuro)
The quick reaction of the authorities and more level-headed participants prevented a battle royal from erupting.
This year’s 200th-anniversary event began with religious ceremonies on Thursday (Aug. 28 is the day commemorating the beheading of John the Baptist).
Thousands of participants dress in costumes that range from Roman centurions to members of the French army that invaded Mexico in the 1860s for three days of battle reenactments, representing the Crusades as well as the Battle of Lepanto.
The day before the unfortunate fracas, Zacatecas Governor David Monreal celebrated the 200th anniversary of the event in a Facebook post, calling Las Morismas de Bracho one of the state’s most important traditions.
“The symbolism and fantastic attendance makes this tribute to St. John the Baptist a fundamental part of our culture and history,” he wrote.
The humble torta. Whether you like it drowned, Cuban, or straight up, we can all agree it is a piece of bakery magic. (Mireya Novo/Cuartoscuro)
México’s distinctive sandwich, the torta, is a comfort food classic. Like many of the nation’s other beloved foods, it has inspired countless regional variations. But the history of the torta begins, at least according to popular lore, with an 11-year-old prodigy. It’s tempting to compare Armando Martínez Centurión to Mozart in his prodigious talents at such a precocious age, but let’s face it: Mozart never created anything as delicious as a torta.
Young Armando began selling “tortas compuestas,” meaning sandwiches with multiple ingredients, in 1892 in Mexico City. The locations have shifted through the years, but remarkably, Torterías Armando is still in business over 130 years later. The first sandwiches were made with telera, an iconic Mexican bread type, filled with well-seasoned fixings ranging from ham, pork loin, and sardines to avocado, chipotle, and cheese.
The place where the magic began back in 1892, when Armando Martínez (allegedly) birthed a national institution. (Tortería Armando/Facebook)
Was Armando really the first tortero? Well, maybe. Baguette-style bread was introduced to México during the 1860s. If you had easily sliced sandwich bread, would you wait nearly 30 years to slap some meat, cheese, and condiments between it? To this point, a “torta compuesta” was mentioned as far back as 1864 in an advertisement in a Puebla-based newspaper, El Pájaro Verde. But Armando certainly opened the first tortería in Mexico City.
How the Bolillo and Telera were created in México
Notably, neither the bolillo nor the telera, now the two most common bread styles used for tortas, originated in Mexico City. Guadalajara and Andalusia, Spain are considered their true birthplaces, respectively. Camille Pirotte, a Belgian baker is the father of the former. He came to México during the Second French Intervention, when the Habsburg Maximilian was installed, briefly, as emperor with consort Carlota. Pirotte was assigned to a battalion in Guadalajara circa 1864, where he pioneered types of baguette bread that could be made without starter yeast. The naturally fermented bolillo and birote, a sourdough version of the torpedo-shaped specialty, are each credited to the intrepid baker, who also became famous for giving out two-day-old bread to the local poor.
Telera, a larger, more rounded bread distinguished by dual score marks across the top, was doubtless influenced by the Andalusian bread of the same name. There, it has been made in rustic fashion since the 17th century. In México, meanwhile, it’s baked with the same wheat-based dough as the bolillo and has been since at least 1871. Although the date of its arrival in Mexico City is unknown, it was in evidence when Armando Martínez made his first tortas in 1892. Today it’s probably best known as a sandwicher of popular Milanesa and Cubana tortas
Drowning in deliciousness – The first “Torta Ahogada”
Given Guadalajara’s lengthy history with the birote, it should come as no surprise that the city is responsible for perhaps the most famous sandwich made from this bread: the torta ahogada, or “drowned torta.” It took about sixty years from Pirotte’s birote breakthrough until someone first decided to pack the bread with pork carnitas and then submerge it in spicy tomato-based salsa for a softened texture and more piquant flavor. This invention during the 1920s is credited to Luis de la Torre, better known as “Güero.” The “drowning” aspect wasn’t planned but rather was the happy result of a torta slipping serendipitously into a salsa-filled container. The customer couldn’t have been happier, and a classic Mexican torta was born.
The Torta Ahogada is the delicious result of a happy accident. (Chris Sands)
To say it soon caught on with the local populace is an understatement. In 2022, the statistics-based government bureau INEGI estimated that over 1,300 businesses in Jalisco were dedicated to this iconic local torta, with the vast majority centered in its historic home of Guadalajara. The proliferation of stands happened gradually. Güero’s son started one, then former employee Ignacio Saldaña another, and so and so on.
Like many Mexican foods, the torta ahogada has a reputation as a hangover cure. The presence of spicy chiles often contributes to such rumors, and it should be noted that ingredients like chile de árbol (a torta ahogada salsa staple), as much as beloved national bread types, distinguish the Mexican sandwich from those made in other nations.
The Torta Cubana and its mysterious origins
Almost all torta history is a mix of legend and fact, and the telera-based Cubana is no exception. For example, if you assume that because former Cuban leader Fidel Castro lived in exile in Mexico City during the 1950s he may have been an inspiration … well, you might be right. One theory of the sandwich’s creation is that Castro was a customer at La Casa del Pavo on Calle de Motolinia, and one day he asked for a sandwich featuring turkey breast, ham, cheese, and other ingredients.
Another theory, meanwhile, credits the Cuban Missile Crisis for the torta’s descriptive moniker. In this one, the creator was Mexico City tortero Leopoldo “Don Polo” Sánchez Preciado. Yet a third posits that the sandwich arose from one of the many torterías on Calle República de Cuba, and had nothing to do with Fidel Castro, Cuban sandwiches, or nuclear brinksmanship.
Torta Cubana is a fusion of turkey, ham and cheese. It might have nothing to do with nuclear war, but then again, it might. (Tortas Don Polo/Facebook)
Nowadays, of course, it’s mostly a moot point. The torta Cubana is popular throughout CDMX and indeed all of México, thanks to its mix of assorted and often variable fillings. Depending on the maker, these may include everything from turkey, pork loin, ham, and milanesa de res to Oaxaca and Chihuahua cheeses, avocado, and cilantro. But if you need a date to place it in context on the torta timeline, it was likely created during the 1950s or ’60s.
Other distinctive regional torta variations
Guadalajara and Mexico City are inextricably linked to torta culture, but so, too, are countless localities where regional sandwich variations have sprung up. There’s the sesame-seeded cemita of Puebla, typically with milanesa de cerdo and cheese; the chorizo-stuffed torta de Malpaso, which originated in Zacatecas roughly contemporaneously with the torta ahogada in Jalisco; the torta de la barda, born in Tampico in the 1920s and now made with ham, shredded beef, queso amarillo, chorizo, refried beans, and avocado … among other tasty ingredients; and the torta de guacamaya from León, Guanajuato, which pairs chicharrón, pico de gallo, and a chile de árbol based salsa with classic bolillo bread.
There are many others, too. But you’ll have to discover those for yourself … if you haven’t already.
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.
Once completed, the train — known as “El Insurgente” — will connect the Metropolitan Area of Toluca in México state with western Mexico City. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum inaugurated the Lerma-Santa Fe stretch of the Mexico City-Toluca commuter train on Saturday, 10 years after construction commenced.
The first leg of the journey, which takes passengers from Zinacantepec to Lerma, México state, began operations in September 2023.
The journey between Lerma and Santa Fe is intended to take roughly 20 minutes, compared to the 1.5 hours it can take by car. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)
López Obrador, joined by Sheinbaum and México state Governor Delfina Gómez, embarked on a journey from the Zinacantepec station to the Santa Fe station in Mexico City at 4:40 p.m. on Saturday. The inaugural journey took 50 minutes compared to the 1.5 hours it takes by car.
The Lerma-Santa Fe stretch is the longest segment of the route, spanning 20 kilometers and bringing the total length to 49 out of the planned 57.7 kilometers. The journey between these stations is intended to take roughly 20 minutes at 80 kilometers per hour.
According to López Obrador, the remaining Section 3 of the commuter train, from the Santa Fe station to the Observatorio station will be completed by the end of 2024, under the government of Claudia Sheinbaum. With the Santa Fe station now open, only two stations remain to be completed.
Once completed, the train known as “El Insurgente,” will connect the Metropolitan Area of Toluca in México state with western Mexico City. It expects to serve 230,000 users per day, spanning a total length of 57.7 kilometers with 7 stations (2 terminals and 5 intermediate terminals).
Inauguramos la estación Santa Fe del Tren El Insurgente que comunica al Estado de México con la Ciudad de México. El tramo de la estación Lerma a la alcaldía Cuajimalpa transportará a más de 200 mil pasajeros al día.
The El Insurgente is comprised of the following stations.
Section 1 is limited to the greater Toluca area. It spans 36 kilometers and features four stations: Zinacantepec, Toluca Centro, Metepec and Lerma.
Section 2 is primarily a 4.6-kilometer tunnel through the Sierra de las Cruces.
Section 3 is a 17-kilometer stretch running through western Mexico City and stopping at three stations: Santa Fe, Álvaro Obregón and Observatorio, with connections to Mexico City’s Metro, the local Metrobús and its passenger bus terminal.
How much will it cost to ride the train?
The transportation system announced an inaugural fare of 60 pesos for the Zinacantepec to Santa Fe trip. The regular price will be 90 pesos.
Fares for the commuter train will depend on users’ starting point and destination. Users can access El Insurgente with the city’s Integrated Mobility Card.
Why has construction of the train been delayed?
Construction on the rail line began in 2014 during Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration. While it was initially expected to be finished in 2017, it has been plagued with delays, including deserted tenders, accidents during construction and budget constraints. Community resistance to parts of the track also created setbacks.
The delays have pushed the train’s cost up 241% from 36 billion pesos (US $1.8 billion) to 123 billion (US $6.21 billion).
The Interstate 20 crosses the Mississippi River in Vicksburg. (Justin Wilkens/Unsplash)
Seven Mexicans, including two minors, are dead and dozens are injured after a bus veered off the highway and overturned in the U.S. state of Mississippi.
“On behalf of the Government of Mexico, I extend my most sincere condolences to the families of the seven people of Mexican origin who unfortunately died in a bus accident in Mississippi,” Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena posted on her social media.
Bárcena said that the Mexican Consulate in New Orleans will provide “all necessary assistance” to the victims.
The accident occurred on Saturday when a vehicle from Autobuses Regiomontanos overturned while traveling west on Interstate Highway 20 in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Six people were declared dead at the scene and one person died at Merit Health Hospital in Vicksburg, according to the Mississippi Highway Patrol.
Forty-three people were on board the bus including one driver and one co-driver, the National Transportation Safety Board said Sunday. Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) added the bus was heading to Dallas, Texas, from Atlanta, Georgia.
The SRE did not clarify whether the passengers were migrants or tourists. However, Miranda Fernández, a spokeswoman for Autobuses Regiomontanos, told CNN that all passengers go through appropriate immigration controls and must show their passports or visas to enter Mexico or the U.S.
Mississippi: 7 dead, including 6-year-old boy, after charter bus runs off the road | Click on the image to read the full story https://t.co/llCe5PEQZi
The Monterrey-based company transports passengers between Mexico and the U.S., where it has several branches.
In total, 17 of the passengers were Mexican.
None of the victims have been publicly identified, according to CBS News. Warren County coroner Doug Huskey told CBS that two of the victims, a 6-year-old Guatemalan boy and his 16-year-old sister, were identified by their mother. However, the SRE said all seven people who were killed were Mexican.
Officials from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Commercial Transportation Enforcement Division are currently investigating the accident.
“The consulate is in contact with the relatives and funeral homes and will continue to closely monitor the development of the investigation into this tragic event,” the SRE said.
A similarly deadly crash occurred in Florida in May, when a drunk driver sideswiped a bus carrying seasonal farm workers north of Orlando. The crash killed 8 Mexican men and left 40 injured.
