Believers crowd the streets near the house of Santa Muerte's "Ground Zero" — the shrine built by Enriqueta Romero in Mexico City's Tepito neighborhood. The faithful gather every month for a “mass” in her honor. (Leigh Thelmadatter)
With a scythe, a long robe and piercing stare, this figure looks very much like the Grim Reaper icon we know from film, books and other media. However, this version is more: it’s a religion and a split in how Mexicans see death.
With the name of Santa Muerte — which can be translated as “Saint Death” or “Holy Death” — the figure is considered female, not male. Alternate names include The White Girl, La Flaquita (little thin one), and perhaps most interestingly, The Virgin of the Forgotten.
A gigantic image of Santa Muerte dominates the Temple of Santa Muerte in Tultitlan, México state. (Angie/Wikimedia Commons)
Religious studies professor R. Andrew Chestnut of Virginia Commonwealth University, author of “Devoted to Death: Sante Muerte, the Skeleton Saint,” published by Oxford University Press, says that Santa Muerte has 12 million followers in Mexico alone, and it’s rapidly gaining followers in the U.S. and in other parts of Latin America.
Her popularity in Mexico may not seem strange for a country famous for Day of the Dead, but Santa Muerte’s existence is nonetheless controversial.
“Ground Zero” for Santa Muerte is undoubtedly Mexico City, more specifically the neighborhood of Tepito, the quintessential example of a Mexican rough neighborhood.
Just over two decades ago, a woman named Enriqueta Romero — better known as Doña Queta — decided to go public with her faith in Santa Muerte and erected a shrine to her outside her house in Tepito, both as a testament and as a place for the faithful to gather.
Enriqueta Romero, better known as Doña Queta, made what’s believed to be the first public shrine to Santa Muerte, at her home in Mexico City. Today, thousands of faithful congregate monthly at the shrine to celebrate “mass.” (damián quiroga/National University of Colombia-Bógota)
Today, on the first of every month, thousands of the faithful gather on the streets around the house to approach the shrine, often carrying their own Santa Muerte statues in a myriad of colors and sizes and bearing their own accouterments.
Shrines to Santa Muerte have since proliferated all over Mexico City’s poor neighborhoods, including others in Tepito. Some are notable in their own right, such such as one in the Doctores neighborhood, where Santa Muerte shares space with the “narco-saint” Jesús Malverde. In the conjoining city of Tultitlán, there is a Temple of Santa Muerte with a 22-meter-tall image.
Outside the capital, one of the most interesting Santa Muerte sites is a seemingly out-of-place “church” and museum complex just outside Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, in the town of Santa Ana Chapitiro. It attracts pilgrims from all over Michoacán and beyond.
Santa Muerte seems to have exploded from out of nowhere. Doña Queta claims the faith goes back generations but that worshippers had to keep hidden until about 20 to 30 years ago. Neither its practitioners nor academics agree on its origin or history.
A believer touches the glass of Enriqueta Romero’s Tepito-based shrine, seeking a blessing. (Leigh Thelmadatter)
Most agree that it is a syncretism of Mesoamerican and Catholic beliefs, sometimes with elements from Afro-Caribbean religions. Folk histories attribute it to a healer/witch from the eastern part of Mexico (some say Puebla, others Veracruz) who lived sometime in the 19th or 20th centuries.
Skeletal imagery has played a significant role in Mexico’s culture from the Mesoamerican period to the present, from Mictlantecuhtli (god of the underworld) to San Pascualito Rey (still venerated in Chiapas) to La Catrina. Some academics put the origin of Santa Muerte to Veracruz because of its history of worshiping skeletons. But there is no documentation to prove lineage, only tantalizing similarities.
However, the modern-day Santa Muerte is nearly an exact replica of the Western personification of death, and her rituals nearly the same as those offered to any “normal” saint — rosaries, pilgrimages, offerings and even the practice of approaching the shrine in Tepito on one’s knees (an act of piety and humility famously associated with the Virgin of Guadalupe).
Differences are subtle, such as the offerings of cigarettes and alcohol and other indications of the rough life that most believers live.
A biker bearing Santa Muerte’s likeness at a motorcycle event in Mexico City. The icon’s strongest appeal is to those who live on the margins of society. (Alejandro Linares Garcia/Wikimedia Commons)
In addition, the religion is rapidly evolving and diversifying with no central canon. Her “patron saint day” can be August 1, August 15 and even December 13.
The trappings of Catholicism involved is one reason why the Vatican repeatedly condemns Santa Muerte, stating in no uncertain terms that it is Satanic and associated with black magic. But most worshipers do not consider their use of Catholic rituals as mockery, nor do they consider the figure as a personification of evil
The other issue is her strong association with (often organized) crime and those who live with violence everyday. Romero acknowledges that many in front of her house are delinquents.
“I do not involve myself in their lives,” she says. “Are there thieves that pray? Yes, everyone is here, and it is not for me to judge.”
Believers at Romero’s shrine. (Damián Quiroga/National University of Colombia-Bógota)
She emphasizes that there are good people who believe in her as well as criminals and that they should not be judged by the actions of others.
But perhaps the greatest challenge of Santa Muerte to the Church is its metaphysics: Christianity essentially exhorts its followers to eschew the world and focus on a reward to be found after death. Time on earth should be spent on “getting right with God” so that when we die, we can enjoy what life denied us.
But many of Santa Muerte’s followers see themselves trapped in a reality that will not allow them to approach God, especially since the Church requires itself to be an intercessor. So these faithful are “forgotten” by the Church, assured only of death, not of redemption. Instead, they think, it’s best for them to focus on today’s needs and desires because perhaps they can get a small favor here and there, rather than a big reward at the end.
Santa Muerte votive in a Washington DC supermarket. Mexico’s faithful have taken their belief where they go, both north to the U.S. and south to other countries in Latin America. (T. Carter Ross)
Santa Muerte is inclusive since Death does not discriminate. She will “hear” petitions for “difficult things” (crime), but she also appeals to police officers, who also deal with crime and violence everyday. She even appeals to some in Mexico’s upper classes, who live with the reality of becoming victims of kidnapping and extortion.
For Tepito, Santa Muerte is not part of the community’s identity, and Romero considers attempts to return faith in her to traditional religion to be “invasive.”
“The other day, a gringo came to yell at us about the ‘true faith,’” she said, adding something unprintable about how they threw the invader out.
And not all Mexicans are enamored with this “new” relationship with Death — many are still Catholic, or at least see the Church as part of their identity. In 2022, one man in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, went as far as to burn down a Santa Muerte shrine, stating he was acting “under God’s orders.”
But for many believers, Santa Muerte is a comfort in the face of harsh realities of life at the margins of Mexican society — where mainstream religion’s promise of a heavenly reward for good behavior breaks down among a host of contradictions.
“I do not know where we go after we die,” Romero says. “My faith helps me to survive today. I do believe in God as well as my Flaca. If tomorrow comes, well, it’s another day, and that is a reward.”
Leigh Thelmadatter arrived in Mexico over 20 years ago and fell in love with the land and the culture in particular its handcrafts and art. She is the author of Mexican Cartonería: Paper, Paste and Fiesta (Schiffer 2019). Her culture column appears regularly on Mexico News Daily.
The U.S. dollar's prolonged nosedive in relation to the Mexican peso has been an unexpected problem for many folks who are used to relying on a strong dollar to meet their budgetary needs in Mexico. (Illustration by Angy Márquez)
If you’re like me, you’ve been observing in dread as the dollar has continued its slow nosedive in relation to the peso.
Where will it bottom out? Nobody seems to know. Pessimists say there’s no limit, while optimists say that it should be between 18 and 19 again by the end of the year. As far as I’m concerned, it’s anybody’s guess in this weird dimension we’ve been stuck in lately.
I’m actively trying to adjust my budget and not get my hopes up, but the past several months have been a pretty painful transition for a lot of us. This includes both those workers who earn in dollars who’ve seen 20% of their income seemingly evaporate into thin air, as well as the many families in Mexico who rely on remittances from family members in the U.S. to meet their living expenses.
If only we’d known last year what we know now!
This time last year, I moved to a lovely house with higher rent than what I’d been paying previously. It was a slight stretch financially but still well within the range I could afford. Magically (well, by the magic of exchange rates), my rent is now US $150 more expensive than it was when I moved in, besides the increase tied to inflation that’s baked into the contract.
I also bought a (used) car this year, a goal I’ve had for quite a few years. I don’t regret buying it, but it’s meant that much more in monthly expenses during a year where prices on everything seem to have skyrocketed. Pretty much the day after I bought the car, we dipped below 19 pesos to the dollar (seems like a fantasy now, doesn’t it?), which at the time seemed just terrible.
So, here we are. I wonder to what extent Mexico’s more recently arrived immigrants feel like they’d been told they were getting on a kiddie ride only to find themselves on a scary funhouse roller coaster, the kind that goes upside down.
I moved to Mexico over 20 years ago because I was in love — with the country, yes, and also with my then-boyfriend (who later became my husband and then ex-husband). The increasingly advantageous exchange rate — it was 10 to 1 when I first arrived — and the fact that I was able to hop on the online work wagon were happy accidents of history and circumstance, but not the reason that I chose to call this place my home.
I’m still committed to Mexico. This is my home and will remain so, even if I need to drastically reduce my budget in some unexpected and painful ways. The falling exchange rate feels like a punch to the gut, but, hey, no one ever promised that earning dollars or the dollar-peso exchange rate would forever be advantageous to dollar-owners.
And while I’m missing some major features of a complete upper-middle-class profile, I do, for the most part, and on the surface, live somewhere close to what I consider an upper-middle-class lifestyle. However, that was not always so.
I spent my childhood in a paycheck-to-paycheck family, any financial advantages stemming from more distant family members who would help out when things got too tight (my grandmother paid for my braces and ballet classes, while a childless great uncle who had to foresight to create trust funds for each of his nieces and nephews was the reason I was able to go to college).
I wasn’t particularly prosperous when I showed up to live in Mexico either. It was before online jobs were really a thing, and I worked at an “English institute” full-time, earning about $7,000 pesos a month (which in those days was closer to $700 USD) with no benefits; I remember my boss balking when I said I didn’t think I could give classes one day because I’d lost my voice.
I took the bus, I asked for prices before picking things out at the market and I can count the number of times I went to the movie theater or mall in a year on one hand. Rent for a little apartment was $2,500 pesos, and the rest was spent on bills, food and bus fare.
All this means that I’ve got plenty of experience pinching a peso and see myself increasingly needing to return to those habits. In the hopes they might help you, too, here are some tips for coping:
Use cash, or at least transfer the money you’re planning to spend to a Mexican bank account. Things are priced in pesos here, and many accounts from the U.S. and/or card readers at the grocery store take a cut when you pay with a foreign card. It’s usually small, but hey — every peso counts these days.
Pay attention at ATMs. If you take out pesos from a US account, there are some that will ask you, “Hey, can we charge you 6% more for your pesos, please?” Many people think they must agree in order to get their cash, but that’s actually not true. If you choose “decline conversion,” they’ll give you your money anyway.
If you enjoy buying in bulk at places like Costco, make sure you’re actually getting a good deal. I mostly use it for boxes of milk and dog food, but, especially for things like frozen food, it can be quite a bit more expensive, as can the grocery store; you can expect U.S. prices there. I went shopping the other day and could swear that every little item in there was priced between 50 and 100 pesos! 50 is the new 20, I guess.
For fresh food, a local market and even the tiendita (neighborhood store) is usually your best bet. They’ll also often have things like ham, bacon, and cheese that you can buy by the gram. You can also know right then how much you’re spending, as you’ll usually need to ask about the prices. The market can also be a good place for a quick meal or snack that’s not too pricey!
Shop around, even at the Oxxos and Fastis: eggs everywhere seem to be at least 80 pesos a carton, but they’re 60 at the Fasti down the street from me. Unlike convenience stores in the U.S. the prices in Mexican corner shops don’t tend to be as inflated.
Think about switching to an electric shower. Since moving into a house with one, we’ve hardly used any gas, even though we have a clothes dryer. Now I know: nothing sucks up more gas than the boiler! If you have no choice, keep only the pilot on, but don’t keep the heat up. And if you’re really brave, you can just keep it totally off and light it when you want to take a shower.
For goods that come in plastic containers (like detergent and other cleaning chemicals), there are often places that sell it by the liter. You can take your empty plastic container and buy it that way, which is almost always a much cheaper option. Plus, you get to use your plastic containers a few times before just throwing them away.
When will this roller coaster ride end? We do not know. But for now, it seems safest to assume that it won’t, as well as to remember that, although inflation is decreasing, it doesn’t mean that prices will go down. (There’s inflation, and then there’s people and companies taking advantage of everyone saying there’s inflation.)
Good luck out there, all! If you’ve got any more tips, feel free to share them on the various platforms available!
Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sarahedevries.substack.com.
The peso has appreciated nearly 15% against the dollar so far this year. (Depositphotos)
Whether you love it, or are feeling the pain of it, it’s hard to ignore the impact of such a dramatic strengthening of the Mexican peso versus the US dollar.
On Friday, the peso strengthened to 16.62, an almost 8-year high. Year-to-date, the peso has strengthened nearly 15%, and is now almost 25% stronger than levels hit just 18 months ago. Yesterday’s further appreciation was partly due to cooling U.S. inflation, likely indicating that the Federal Reserve might be done with interest rate hikes.
I wrote previously about the factors that could slow down the superpeso. When might the peso begin to weaken?
There might be a clue in – of all places – Chile. Chile’s central bank lowered its interest rates by 100 basis points (1.0%) on Friday. A cut of 100 basis points is a very big one (the Federal Reserve tends to move in 25 basis point increments).
This was the first decrease in years, was larger than expected, and a unanimous decision. The move follows a recent cut by Uruguay earlier in the month and leads analysts to believe that this is the start of Latin American countries – which were even more aggressive than the United States in increasing interest rates – to start cutting them.
Mexico increased its rates in the current economic cycle by a whopping 700 basis points (7%) to a current level of 11.25%, before recently pausing. Given that the country’s headline inflation rate has been coming in consistently lower – the most recent reported level was near 4.79% – Mexico’s central bank (Banxico) might be ready to take action to lower these rates. Stay tuned on Aug. 10, when they will hold their next meeting, as this might signal the peak of the peso’s rise against the US dollar.
Monetary policy and exchange rates are not a perfect science, and rarely easy to predict, but the lowering of interest rates in Mexico could begin to slow the peso’s appreciation.
Of course, currency moves depend on many other factors like the relative levels and trends of both interest rates and inflation of other countries, but a reduction in Mexican interest rates could be a game changer. However, the overall trends of nearshoring and economic strength in Mexico will likely keep the peso from a significant weakening.
Its brown, leathery skin loses the mamey points for presentation, but a ripe one is a little slice of heaven. (Suriel Ramzal/Shutterstock)
With its rough, brown skin and odd, elongated football-like shape, the mamey’s external appearance belies the luscious fruit within.
The sweet flesh inside is a brilliant deep coral-orange, with a taste that some describe as somewhere in the middle of a cantaloupe, an apricot and a papaya, while others compare it to a baked sweet potato or pumpkin pie. Mamey’s texture is smooth and creamy, like a ripe avocado, and despite its large size and the shiny black pit in the middle, it is classified as a berry.
When they’re in season, ripe, delicious mamey fruits for sale are a pretty common sight along highways and byways. (Meutia Chaerani-Indiradi Soemardjan/Wikimedia Commons)
When in season, you’ll find mamey (pronounced mah-MAY) not only in supermarkets but also in vendor markets and, in some areas, sold by the roadside. Just like mangoes, the trees grow big and live a long time, producing an abundance of fruit for more than 20 years. A mature tree can yield up to a half ton of fruit over a long growing season that lasts from January to July.
Formally called Mamey sapote or simply zapote in some parts of Mexico, this exotic fruit is widely grown for consumption at home as well as for export. Southern states like Veracruz, Chiapas, Oaxaca and Tabasco, as well as Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Guerrero, produce many varieties of sapotes (from the Nahuatl tzapotl), all with different colors and distinct flavors.
Traditional recipes and folk remedies abound: mamey is known for its antiparasitic and antibacterial qualities, as well as for having high levels of iron, fiber, antioxidants and beta-carotene, which contribute to healthy skin and digestion and improved blood circulation. And since mamey is about 80% water, it’s also low in calories.
The simplest way to eat mamey, of course, is just cut up. Its bright-orange color adds pizzazz to everything, whether in a fruit salad, blended into a smoothie or agua fresca or made into ice cream, flan or pudding. Ostensibly, mamey can be cut up and cooked like French fries, but I can’t vouch for that idea.
In some states, the mamey sapote seed, or pixtle, is used in traditional recipes, including the Oaxacan drink tejate and Tabasco’s sour atole. In Oaxaca, after the seeds are toasted and ground, the powder is added to hot chocolate to make it froth more.
A word of caution: Raw mamey sapote seeds contain cyanide, which is poisonous. Before using them in recipes, they need to be cooked and treated. Do not attempt this on your own!
When selecting mamey, look for unblemished fruit that gives gently when squeezed lightly, like a ripe peach or avocado. If they need to ripen, wrap the fruit in brown paper and leave out on your kitchen counter until it’s tender to the touch.
To prepare, slice the skin from top to bottom in four places and peel off. Slice the fruit away from the pit inside. Discard the pits and any white membrane under the skin, then slice the fruit as desired. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to cut mamey in half, discard the pit and scoop out the bright orange flesh with a spoon.
Mamey Frozen Mousse
3 cups of mamey pulp
¼ cup evaporated milk
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup heavy whipping cream
In a blender or stand mixer, process mamey with the evaporated milk, condensed milk and vanilla; set aside. Whip the cream until doubled in volume. Gently fold the mamey mixture into whipped cream until incorporated. Transfer to a bowl and freeze for 8 hours, stirring from time to time to distribute the frozen parts. When firm and frozen, serve in bowls or cones.
Agua de mamey is a great choice for making refreshing popsicles! (Studio2gdl/Shutterstock)
Agua de Mamey
This can also be used to make bolis or popsicles.
1 cup of cubed mamey
2 Tbsp. honey/agave syrup
Juice of 4 small limones or to taste
6 cups water
Ice
Blend the fruit with a little of the water, lime juice and honey/agave syrup. Return to the pitcher with the rest of the water; mix well. Serve in glasses with ice.
Bolis de Mamey
1½ cups mamey pulp
1 liter regular milk
1 ½ cans sweetened condensed milk
1 ½ cups media crema
1 Tbsp. vanilla
Process mamey pulp in a blender until pureed. In a large bowl, whisk both milks, media crema, vanilla and mamey pulp until well incorporated. Pour into small plastic bags (or popsicle molds); twist and tie the bag at the top to close. Freeze at least eight hours or overnight.
La Capital restaurant in Mexico City shows how a simple mamey horchata can be made into a special occasion! (La Capital/Facebook)
Mamey Horchata
2 cups washed white rice
4 cups water
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 cans evaporated milk
1 cinnamon stick
2 cups mamey pulp
1 Tbsp. vanilla
Bring water to a boil. Add cinnamon stick, vanilla and rice; turn heat to low, cover tightly and cook until the rice is done, about 20–25 minutes. (There will still be water in the pan but the rice will be tender.) Stir and let cool for 15 minutes. Discard cinnamon stick.
In a blender or food processor, pour rice and cooking water. Blend on high until smooth, working in batches if necessary. Strain into a large pitcher and add the condensed milk, evaporated milk and one more cup of room-temperature water.
In a blender, process the mamey and then strain through a wire-mesh strainer. Discard solids. Add mamey juice to the rice water mixture and stir well. Serve chilled over ice.
Flan de Mamey
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
4 cups mamey pulp
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
Heat the sugar with the water in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar melts, turns golden brown and caramelizes a little. Pour this caramel into a mold or individual glass flan cups.
It only takes a few steps to produce a delicious homemade mamey flan. (Nestle)
Blend the mamey with the condensed milk, eggs and egg yolks until thoroughly combined. Pour into mold or cups and cover with aluminum foil.
Fill a lasagna-size pan with boiling water to about an inch from the top; place cups or mold into pan. Cook at 350F (180C) for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Carefully remove from pan, chill at least three hours, unmold and serve.
Guadalajara native Bernardo Esquinca is a prolific author whose work was recently adapted into a television series. (Culture Ministry)
Bernardo Esquinca, a Guadalajara native who now calls Mexico City home, is an innovative and prolific writer who has published novels, short stories and non-fiction in a literary career spanning 30 years.
Another English-language anthology of the Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author’s cuentos (short stories) will be published later this year. According to the publisher, the stories “blend the genres of horror and noir in inventive ways and run the gamut from chilling to weirdly unsettling to darkly funny.”
I recently spoke to Bernardo to find out a little bit more about his literature, the adaptation of one of his novels for television, his involvement in the making of a well-known Netflix horror series and more.
Peter Davies:
Hi Bernardo, thanks for speaking to Mexico News Daily. Your literature is often described as “weird fiction.” How do you describe it yourself? And can give you give us a brief overview of your career as an author.
Bernardo Esquinca:
I write crime fiction mixed with horror and fantasy. I’ve always liked to blend genres, I think it’s the most effective way to tell the kind of stories that interest me, ones in which we’re not exactly in the world that surrounds us, but rather beneath its superficial layers.
I started writing mystery stories when I was a kid. My first book of short stories was published when I was 21. It was always very clear to me that I wanted to dedicate myself to literature. I’ve now been publishing my books with the publishing house Almadía, which is proudly Mexican, for 15 years.
PD:
Esquinca (center) on the red carpet with the cast of Toda la Sangre in September. (Graciela López Herrera / Cuartoscuro.com)
Your 2013 novel Toda la Sangre was recently adapted as a series for the streaming service Lionsgate+. Can you tell us a little bit about that book and what it was like seeing it depicted in a different medium?
BE:
It’s a crime novel that is part of the Casasola saga – the second of five novels I’ve published [in that series]. It’s about the adventures of a nota roja [violent crime] reporter in Mexico City, who in this case is confronted by the Asesino Ritual (Ritual Murderer) – a lunatic who carries out human sacrifices with the idea that the ancient gods of Tenochtitlán will return.
Seeing it on screen was a lot of fun, as was closely following the adaptation. I consider myself very fortunate because getting books onto TV isn’t easy, a lot of projects only get half-finished. Hopefully a second season will be made!
PD:
Mexico City features as a setting in several of your novels, including your 2022 release Necropolitana. In what ways has living in the capital inspired you and/or influenced your writing?
BE:
I’m from Guadalajara but I’ve lived in Mexico City for 20 years and it has become the main character in my books. It’s a very important influence in everything I write, the ideal setting for my literature because everything is possible in this city.
PD:
A collection of your short stories, translated to English, is coming out later this year. What can you tell us about The Secret Life of Insects?
BE:
It’s a selection of my short story work from the past 15 years. It contains stories from my first books as well as the most recent ones, and even some unpublished ones. Valancourt Books, an independent publisher in Virginia that specializes in horror fiction, is publishing it. I’m honored to be part of their catalog!
PD:
What was your involvement with Diablero, the Netflix series based on Francisco Haghenbeck’s novel El Diablo me obligó?
BE:
I was an advisor for the first season, and I make a cameo in the second one – I appear as a revolutionary zombie.
J.M. Cravioto, the showrunner and director, is a good friend, and as Paco’s literature and mine have things in common he invited me to collaborate.
PD:
Who are a few authors that have influenced your own writing, or even inspired you to become a writer. And finally, can you recommend some contemporary Mexican or Latin American writers.
BE:
Some of the authors who have influenced me are Edgar Allan Poe, Shirley Jackson, Stephen King, Amparo Dávila, José Emilio Pacheco, James Ellroy, Rubem Fonseca and Cormac McCarthy.
I recommend reading the following female Latin American authors: Mariana Enríquez, Mónica Ojeda, Liliana Colanzi, Liliana Blum, Agustina Bazterrica, Camila Sosa Villada, María Gainza and Ana Paula Maia.
They, among other female authors, are writing the continent’s most stimulating literature.
This interview is the fifth in a series called “The Saturday Six”: six-question interviews published in Saturday editions of Mexico News Daily. Read the three most recent previous interviews in the series here, here and here.
The president met with U.S. and Canadian security officials, trumpeted reduced income inequality and dismissed an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico during this week's daily press conferences. (Gob MX)
A Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the Texas government’s installation of a floating barrier in the Rio Grande, the income gap between Mexico’s richest and poorest citizens and the global manpower of two powerful Mexican criminal organizations were among the issues President López Obrador discussed at his morning press conferences, or mañaneras, this week.
Other officials offered reports on bilateral and trilateral meetings with United States and Canadian officials held Monday and Tuesday, at which migration and fentanyl were at or near the top of the agenda.
The president, here with Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez, had a busy week of security meetings with representatives from the U.S. and Canada. (Gob MX)
Monday
During the weekly update on the Maya Train railroad project, the general director of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), Diego Prieto, announced that a new section of the Chichén Itzá archaeological site in eastern Yucatán state would open on Sept. 2.
“We’re going to open a new area so that visitors can have a much more enriching experience,” Prieto said, adding that the new section is called Chichén Viejo, or Old Chichén.
The INAH chief also noted that a “great archaeological museum” is under construction at the site of Chichén Itzá, near which a Maya Train station and Maya Train hotel are being built.
Early in his engagement with reporters, López Obrador fielded a question on Fitch Ratings’ recent downgrading of Pemex’s long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings to B+ from BB-, which puts the state oil company deeper into junk territory.
“It doesn’t affect anything,” AMLO said of the downgrade. “… Pemex’s debt has been reduced and we can prove that,” he said before citing data that showed that its liabilities have declined 15.5% since he took office.
The president, repeating a claim he has made previously, accused rating agencies of bias against his government, considering that they gave “very good” ratings to Pemex and the Federal Electricity Commission when “corruption reigned” within those state-owned firms.
“All this from the rating agencies is a joke,” he said dismissively.
AMLO dismissed the Fitch Ratings downgrade of Pemex, saying that the oil company’s debt has been reduced during his term. (Gob MX)
López Obrador went on to enumerate four economy-related positives during his administration.
“Number one – the best thing – [has been] the increase to worker’s incomes,” he said, asserting that that the growth in wages during his government is the strongest in 30 years.
Spending on social programs has increased by an amount “not seen in half a century,” AMLO added.
“Thirdly, when [before] had more than US $60 billion in annual remittances been received? Fourthly, when was the last time our peso maintained such strength without devaluation?”
López Obrador later rejected a Reforma newspaper report, which – citing experts from the National Autonomous University – said that that an oil spill in the Bay of Campeche extended over an area of 467 square kilometers.
AMLO said that the spill was in fact “very, very small” and that the reporting by Reforma – his least favorite Mexican newspaper – was an “exaggeration” and an “invention.”
“Maybe they’ll be able to prove that in the ‘Who’s Who in the Lies [of the Week segment],” he said, referring to the fake news exposé session presented every week at his Wednesday morning press conference.
One reporter noted that the head of the consumer protection agency Profeco, Ricardo Sheffield, said last week that the water system in Veracruz city – which has been run by a private company since 2016 – is the worst in the entire country.
“As we all know, the neoliberal policy … consisted in giving concessions and contracts to private companies,” López Obrador said, adding that ports, highways, mines, banks, garbage collection services, jails and water were all privatized by past governments.
“We’re going to look at this [issue] in Veracruz, see what we can do, what the situation is,” he said.
“… This is what has been inherited [by my government],” AMLO added.
Toward the end of his first presser of the week, the president said that the modernized train line across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec between Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, and Coatzacoalcos, Veraacruz, would be completed this September. He said he expected that a passenger train and freight trains would begin operating on the railroad the same month.
Before concluding his mañanera, López Obrador noted that he would meet later in the day with Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall to discuss “migration, drug trafficking, weapons and development cooperation.”
“The relationship with the government of President Biden is very good,” he added.
“… We’re working very well with the United States government, there aren’t major differences [between us].”
Tuesday
During the government’s regular security update, Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez noted that preliminary statistics published by national statistics agency INEGI on Tuesday morning showed that homicides decreased by almost 10% in annual terms last year.
“From January to December of 2022, 32,223 homicides were recorded in Mexico, which means deaths decreased 9.7% with respect to 2021,” she said.
López Obrador declared that the data was “very encouraging” and said that the government estimated that homicides have declined 17% since he took office in December 2018.
“This is a great achievement, it’s the fruit of the work that the security cabinet carries out every day. The strategy of attending to the causes of violence is starting to yield results, because from the first day of government we started improving the living and working conditions of the people of Mexico,” he said.
President López Obrador and U.S. and Mexican officials including Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, Ken Salazar, Rosa Icela Rodríguez and Luisa María Alcalde met at the National Palace Monday. (@lopezobrador_/Twitter)
Asked about his meeting on Monday with Sherwood-Randall, AMLO – who wrote on social media that the talks were “very productive” – said that a report would be provided on Wednesday “because today we have a trilateral meeting” with both U.S. and Canadian officials.
“What was agreed on matters of migration, fentanyl and weapons will be announced tomorrow,” he said.
López Obrador subsequently thanked United States President Joe Biden for filing a complaint against Texas Governor Greg Abbott for installing in the Rio Grande a floating barrier aimed at stopping migrants crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.
“They’re violating our sovereignty and violating international treaties and agreements as well as bilateral agreements … with respect to our territories,” he said.
“… So, we very much appreciate that President Biden has filed this complaint,” AMLO said.
“… In one word, it’s politicking what … [Abbott] is doing and I believe that it will be counterproductive for him because the Texans, our neighbors, our brothers, aren’t going to approve of these illegal, authoritarian, arrogant and inhumane insults,” he said.
“He won’t have the support of the citizens of Texas, much less Mexican Americans, and he won’t have the support of any humanitarian person who understands the causes of migration,” AMLO said.
López Obrador later thanked the members of the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI), who for the past eight years has been investigating the 2014 disappearance and presumed murder of 43 students in Iguala, Guerrero.
“I met with the group. There are two [members] who stayed on [in Mexico] but they’re now finishing their work. We thank them for what they have done – a good investigation – and today they will present a report,” he said of a document that concluded that municipal, state and federal security forces were complicit in the abduction of the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College students.
Carlos Beristain (left) and Ángela Buitrago at the presentation of the sixth and final GIEI report on the Ayoztinapa case. (Cuartoscuro)
“We’re going to continue with the investigation. A lot of progress has been made. … High-ranking public officials, … both civilian and military, have been arrested and the investigation continues,” AMLO said.
Wednesday
At a trilateral meeting on Tuesday, Mexico, the United States and Canada agreed to “increase and strengthen actions to cut [fentanyl] supply chains,” said Security Minister Rodríguez.
The three countries will ramp up supervision and inspections at “ports and borders,” she said.
Rodríguez also said that Mexico, the U.S. and Canada agreed on “the creation of a working group to stop traffickers of synthetic drugs using legitimately established commercial companies for their [illicit] purposes.”
“… The members of the three delegations agreed to continue the preventive policy to avoid the trafficking and consumption of drugs as part of the task of attending to the causes of violence,” she said.
With regard to the illegal trafficking of weapons, Mexico and the United States agreed to “the electronic … [tracking] of all firearms seized from criminal organizations in our country,” the security minister said.
“It’s clear that 70% of weapons confiscated in Mexico come from the United States,” she added.
Making her maiden mañanera appearance, new Foreign Affairs Minister Alicia Bárcena spoke about migration.
Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena at the Wednesday morning press conference. (Gob MX)
“Why is the issue so important? Because Mexico – and of course we presented this in the bilateral meeting [with the United States] – is very committed to a migration strategy that is comprehensive, orderly, … safe, regular and humane,” she said.
Bárcena, a former United Nations official who succeeded Marcelo Ebrard as foreign minister last month, said that Mexico and the United States are working on a plan to set up an “international space” in the south of the country where “multiple services” will be offered to Cubans, Nicaraguans, Haitians and Venezuelans who came to Mexico with the intention of migrating to the U.S.
The “space” – described as an “international crossing point” in a Foreign Affairs Ministry statement – would stop migrants from taking the “painful” journey through Mexico to the northern border, during which they “suffer so much because they endure violence and are attacked and kidnapped,” she said.
Barcena offered few details about the bilateral plan, but said that “shelter services” and “employment options” on government infrastructure projects in southern and southeastern Mexico would be offered to migrants.
Back behind the mañanera lectern, López Obrador highlighted a key finding of a recent poll conducted by the company Covarrubias.
“If the elections for president of the republic were held today, could you please tell me which option you would vote for?” said AMLO, reading aloud from the survey.
He noted that the ruling Morena party and its allies, the Labor Party and the Green Party, had the support of 49% of respondents, while the PAN-PRI-PRD alliance was chosen by 19% of those polled and the Citizens Movement party had the backing of 7%. (One quarter of respondents didn’t nominate a preferred party).
“What’s the difference [between Morena and the opposition bloc]? Thirty [points],” López Obrador said.
He also highlighted the results of a poll published in the El País newspaper, noting that Morena attracted effective support of 60% while the PAN and the PRI received the backing of just 14% and 12% of respondents, respectively.
“We’re doing very well as a country,” AMLO added. “…Mexico is a global example for its management of the economy, its social policy, the way in which we’re confronting the scourge of violence and our foreign relations.”
Thursday
“I’m very happy, like a peacock, very, very, very happy,” AMLO said after noting that the results of a survey by national statistics agency INEGI showed that the incomes of Mexico’s poorest citizens has increased during his term in government.
The president presented data that showed that the quarterly incomes of the poorest decile of the population increased 19.9% between 2018 and 2022, rising to 13,411 pesos (about US $800 at the current exchange rate) from 11,183 pesos.
López Obrador also noted that the income gap between Mexico’s richest and poorest citizens had narrowed. In 2016, the wealthiest decile earned 21 times more than the poorest 10% of the population, while in 2022 the former only made 15 times more than the latter, he said.
AMLO said that the results of the biennial survey, published on Wednesday, showed that the government’s strategy of “attending to all” but “giving preference to the poor” is working.
The president said he was proud as a “peacock” at the Thursday morning press conference when reviewing the latest statistics on household income. (Cuartoscuro)
“We’ve managed … to reduce poverty in the time we’ve been in government, and that is no small feat,” he said.
“Being able to say that the poorest people are receiving more fills me with pride and satisfaction,” López Obrador said.
Later in the press conference, a reporter from Morelos claimed that the people of the small central Mexican state feel “practically abandoned” by “absent” Governor Cuauhtémoc Blanco, a former star of Mexico’s national soccer team who was elected on a Social Encounter Party ticket but is now representing Morena.
“There is data from a civil association … that shows the governor has only attended 35 of 365 [state government] meetings that are held to improve security,” the reporter said.
“I respect your point of view, your opinion, but I don’t share it,” AMLO responded.
“I believe that progress is being made in Morelos [thanks to] joint action of the state government led by Cuauhtémoc Blanco and the federal government,” he said.
López Obrador also asserted that the people of Morelos are much better off with Blanco in the state’s top job than they were with former governor Graco Ramírez, whose six-year term ended in 2018.
Once again addressing the 2014 mass kidnapping in Iguala, the president told the press corps that the government has made progress in “clarifying what happened to the young men from Ayotzinapa.”
“There are about 115 people detained and not just low-ranking officials or people with little influence. No, the former [federal] attorney general is detained, two generals are detained … and other important public officials are detained. There is no impunity,” he said.
“… We’re working on the search [for the students]. The most important thing now is the search because we now have information, the so-called pact of silence was broken and we now have an approximation of what happened and who was responsible,” López Obrador said.
“… What matters most to us, what interests us, is to find out where the young men are. We can fill the jails with culprits but what if we don’t find the young men? So, we’re working on that every day – searching to find the young men,” he said.
AMLO describing what he has termed the “ecocide” committed by U.S. company Vulcan Materials in Quintana Roo. (Gob MX)
He also reminded reporters that his Friday press conference would be held in Tepic, Nayarit.
“I’m going to begin a tour in Nayarit to look at water projects,” López Obrador said, adding that he will also travel to Sinaloa, Durango, Coahuila and Nuevo León in the coming days to inspect progress on the construction of new water infrastructure in those states.
Friday
Governor Miguel Ángel Navarro Quintero welcomed the president to Nayarit, and said he could confirm that the Pacific coast state has benefited greatly from federal investment.
“At the end of this year we’ll finish [work on] the [Tepic] airport, which as of this week is an international airport thanks to your support. It will also be a freight airport,” Navarro said.
The Nayarit governor highlighted other infrastructure undertakings in the state, including highway improvements and water and health care projects.
Defense Minister Sandoval at the Friday morning press conference held in Nayarit. (Gob MX)
National Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval reported that Nayarit ranks as the 26th most violent state during the term of the current federal government in terms of total homicides with 748 between December 2018 and June 2023. He noted that on a per capita basis, Nayarit ranks as the 21st most violent state out of the 32 federal entities with 61 homicides per 100,000 people during the past 4 1/2 years.
Early in his engagement with reporters, AMLO was asked about Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram’s statement on Thursday that the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel have more than 44,000 “members, associates, facilitators and brokers” around the world.
“We don’t have that information. I don’t know where the DEA lady got it from,” López Obrador said.
“Hopefully they give us more details. … They should tell us the proof they have,” he said.
AMLO said that U.S. authorities hadn’t disclosed the information shared by Milgram at security meetings in Mexico City earlier this week.
“That’s a problem they have in the United States government. I say it with complete respect, there’s no coordination between [the different departments],” he said.
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram testifying Thursday before a House of Representatives oversight committee. (House of Representatives)
“… That’s the way it was before in Mexico, but order was established. Before the Ministry of Defense worked on its own, the navy did its own thing, the Security Ministry did as well and the state governments did what corresponded to them. Now we all work together … and we take joint decisions,” López Obrador said.
The president recalled that he rejected a 2021 claim by a United States military general that about one-third of Mexico’s territory is controlled by criminal organizations, and asserted that U.S. authorities “don’t have good information.”
Later in his presser, López Obrador said that he had received a response to a letter he sent to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seek the extradition of former law enforcement official Tomás Zerón, who is wanted in connection with the case involving the disappearance of the 43 students.
He said there is “willingness” on the part of the Israeli government “to help us,” but didn’t confirm that it would actually agree to the extradition of Zerón, who is accused of abduction, torture and tampering with evidence in the investigation into the student’s abduction and presumed murder.
Although he has been prohibited by the National Electoral Institute from speaking about electoral issues, AMLO couldn’t resist making remarks about leading opposition bloc presidential hopeful Senator Xochitl Gálvez toward the end of his mañanera. He questioned the relationship companies owned by Gálvez had with firms based in the Mexico City borough of Miguel Hidalgo, of which the senator was mayor between 2015 and 2018.
López Obrador said that most of the “clients” of Gálvez’s companies – which he has previously said received government contracts worth some 1.5 billion pesos over a period of nine years – are in Miguel Hidalgo, “where coincidentally she was borough chief.”
“The authorities are the ones that have to investigate if there is something improper, if there is influence peddling, if there is corruption,” he said.
The president ruled out any chance that he would seek to have the senator’s immunity from prosecution removed, a process known as desafuero.
“I’m not going to do that, I would never do that. … I suffered a desafuero [when I was Mexico City mayor]. How could I do the same thing that was done to me!” he said shortly before bringing his final press conference of the week to a close.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies ([email protected])
President Lopez Obrador reacted to a reporter's questions about DEA Administrator Anne Milgram's testimony by saying that U.S. officials "don’t have good information." (Presidencia)
President López Obrador on Friday expressed doubt about an assertion from the head of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) have more than 40,000 operatives in over 100 countries around the world.
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram told U.S. lawmakers on Thursday that “it has been identified” that there are more than than 26,000 “members, associates, facilitators, and brokers” of the Sinaloa Cartel around the world.
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram testifying Thursday before a House of Representatives oversight committee. (House of Representatives)
She also noted that the cartel formerly led by imprisoned drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán “reportedly has a presence in 19 of the 32 Mexican states.”
Speaking before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, Milgram said “it has been identified” that the CJNG currently has more more than 18,600 “members, associates, facilitators, and brokers” around the world.
The DEA chief said that the Jalisco Cartel — headed up by the elusive Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes — “reportedly has a presence in 21 of the 32 Mexican states.”
Milgram, who repeated her claim that the Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG pose “the greatest criminal threat the United States has ever faced,” told lawmakers that “these ruthless, violent, criminal organizations have associates, facilitators and brokers in all 50 states in the United States.”
A Michoacan’s family’s truck sits in an encampment in Apatzingán, Michoacán, where they have taken shelter after being displaced from their home in June by cartel warfare. (José Estrada Serafín/Cuartoscuro)
“The DEA will continue our relentless pursuit of the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels — the criminal networks most responsible for fentanyl-related deaths in our country — and we will continue to work tirelessly to defeat these cartels and dismantle every part of their global supply chain, in order to protect the American people,” she said.
A reporter brought the DEA administrator’s remarks on the global number of Mexican cartel operatives to the president’s attention at his Friday morning press conference, which was held in Tepic, Nayarit.
“We don’t have that information. I don’t know where the DEA lady got it from,” López Obrador responded.
“Hopefully they give us more details. … They should tell us the proof they have,” he added.
López Obrador said that U.S. officials hadn’t disclosed the information shared by Milgram at security meetings in Mexico City earlier this week.
“That’s a problem they have in the United States government. I say it with complete respect: there’s no coordination between [the different departments],” he said.
One of the president’s arguments for doubting the DEA’s information was that he had met with U.S. Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall on Monday as part of the most recent Trilateral Fentanyl Committee and she had not shared such information. (Presidencia)
“… That’s the way it was before in Mexico, but order was established. Before, the Ministry of Defense worked on its own, the navy did its own thing, the Security Ministry did as well and the state governments did what corresponded to them. Now we all work together … and we make joint decisions,” López Obrador said.
He recalled that he rejected a 2021 claim by a U.S. military general that about one-third of Mexico’s territory is controlled by criminal organizations, and asserted that U.S. authorities “don’t have good information.”
López Obrador said that the claim that the CJNG operates in 21 Mexican states was also wrong, but he was evasive when asked how many states that criminal organization and the Sinaloa Cartel had a presence in.
“It basically has to do with the number of homicides, the states with the most crimes. … Yesterday there were 70 homicides … [and] 43% … [were committed] in four states,” he said, adding that 13 states had a murder-free day on Thursday.
López Obrador asserted that the media doesn’t take “our data” into account, “but data from the DEA comes out” and “eight-column” stories are written in every newspaper in the country.
Cancún is the most popular of 12 national tourist destinations this summer, with over 150,000 domestic and international arrivals per week. (Shutterstock)
Cancún is expecting 150,000 visitors per week over the summer high season, making it the most popular of 12 national tourist destinations monitored by the Tourism Ministry (Sectur).
The Quintana Roo beach town registered 73% hotel occupancy in the second week of July, down from 82% in the first week of this month, but still beating Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta, Villahermosa and Acapulco. Occupancy has been at over 75% for much of the first half of 2023 and is expected to boom again over the holiday season.
Tourists swim and lounge on a Cancún beach. (David Vives/Unsplash)
“You can see that a good season is coming, and we hope so because the last few weeks have been average,” tour operator Jesús Zambrano told the PorEsto newspaper. “But based on the hotels’ numbers, many people are expected to arrive, and I hope that we all do well.”
Cancún has long been one of Mexico’s most popular destinations, renowned for its white-sand beaches, crystalline warm waters and vibrant nightlife. Domestic tourists make up the largest proportion of visitors, followed by U.S. citizens and Canadians.
Like many tourist destinations, Cancún was hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, but it bounced back quickly,closing 2022 with a higher number of annual arrivals than in 2019. These numbers have continued to grow in 2023.
Cancún remains popular despite its recent struggles with unsightly sargassum seaweed (which is forecast to be at low levels over the summer) and anincrease in violence linked to organized crime.
The presence of law enforcement authorities has become increasingly common on Cancún beaches due to a recent uptick in violence involving both local and international beachgoers. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)
Commenting on the upcoming tourist season, the mayor of Cancún, Ana Peralta stressed that a special security operation has been in place since July 14, which reinforces preventive surveillance to combat crime and other disturbances throughout the summer season.
A team of 21 lifeguards is also employed to monitor the beaches and ensure the safety of vacationers in the water.
Wearing space suits, kids emerge from the dome in a simulated Martian environment. (All photos courtesy of Katya Echazarreta Foundation)
Thanks to Katya Echazarreta, the first Mexican woman to visit space, 100 Mexican youths are participating in a unique space camp.
The event, which consists of workshops where the 13- to 15-year olds learn about various disciplines related to aeronautics and space travel, is being organized in and around the city of Guadalajara by the Katya Echazarreta Foundation under the direction of education specialist Manuel Maciel.
Mexican astronaut Katya Echazarreta at the Space Camp inauguration: “I promise to create the opportunities kids need.”
“This year, most of our kids are from the state of Jalisco,” Maciel said, “but we have a few visitors from Monterrey, Chiapas, Morelos and a few other places. We are very happy to be holding the first space camp in Mexico and Latin America … and at the same time, we’re setting a precedent: that we are capable of carrying out this kind of training right here in our own country.”
The space camp project was born from Echazarreta’s concern for children in Mexico.
“One of her priorities,” says Maciel, “is to give kids opportunities that she and many other Mexicans never had, opportunities to get into STEM areas.”
“Dr. Katya wasted no time in turning her ideas into something concrete,” Maciel added. “After a week of workshops and experiences, the participants are capable of carrying out a simulated mission.
Studying robotics at the Lunaria Planetarium and Interactive Science Museum.
Named “Mars Mission 2023,” the space camp manages to combine the fun of a summer camp with the benefits of true, hands-on learning.
The program is running for four weeks (July 10–August 4), and each week, 25 children housed in a Guadalajara hotel are bussed off to various sites each morning.
On Mondays, participants go to the PLAi Tower in Guadalajara’s Ciudad Creativa Digital (Creative Digital City), famous for offering cutting-edge workshops in robotics, coding, virtual reality, audiovisual production, computer-controlled laser cutting and more.
On Tuesdays, they visit the Pan American University of Guadalajara for a full day of activities, studying everything from Martian rocks to maintaining mental health while in space.
Katya Echazarreta and Manuel Maciel with trainer José Ernesto García, a robotics whiz kid from Bolivia.
The following day, the kids attend a private flying school in Zapopan called Leap Sky Aviation Training. Here, they operate flight simulators and learn to use Leap Sky’s Curiosity Rover, which is operated by “immersive virtual reality.” They are also introduced to aerodynamics and how to design food for space flights.
On Thursdays, the kids head out for a full day of activities at Planetario Lunaria in Guadalajara, a combination planetarium and interactive science museum that introduces visitors to everything from astronomy and chemistry to biomechanics.
On the last day, Friday, the participants are taken to a large sports center at Ixtlahuacán de Membrillos, located near the shore of Lake Chapala.
“The interior of this building,” says Maciel, “has been transformed into a simulated Martian landscape: the ground, the sky, the dust, the rocks, everything.”
Trainers in gray work with space campers in blue at Guadalajara’s PLAi Tower.
Here, the kids don real space suits and are challenged to carry out a series of “missions” with the guidance of a group of professionals. It’s about as close as you could ever get to Mars without leaving Earth.
The children participating in the space camp were almost all chosen by individual municipalities of the state of Jalisco. Each municipality developed its own criteria. Some held a lottery, and others asked the kids to make a video. The camp is free to the children who are chosen and their families.
During the second week of the program, I asked Maciel what kind of results his team was seeing.
“You know,” he said, “these children are immersed 24/7 in a series of practical experiences linked to different disciplines, with a chance to interact with kids like themselves and work in teams. They are really learning in a very practical way.”
Kids learn about aerodynamics at Leap Sky Aviation Training.
“As director of this program and as an educator, I can assure you that at the end of the week, the first group left here totally fascinated, convinced they had lived an experience that they never dreamed they could possibly have with respect to technology, robotics, programming and other themes related to space,” he recounted.
“All this tells me we’re doing a good job and that the beneficiaries are los jovenes, the youth. Yes, I think we are succeeding,” he said.
Maciel insisted that much of the project’s success must be credited to the team that gives the workshops.
“[The instructors] are mostly students at the Instituto Politécnico,” he told me, “and they have great energy. Many of them have international experience, and many are leaders in robotics and mechatronics.
Wearing space suits, kids emerge from the dome in a simulated Martian environment.
“We hope these experiences will sow the seeds of new vocations; we hope many of these young people will become future engineers and technology developers — and maybe even astronauts.”
Echazarreta was born and raised in Guadalajara and moved with her family to California at the age of seven. While working as a full-time engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, she was chosen out of more than 7,000 applicants to fly to space with Blue Origin. On June 4, 2022, she became the first Mexican-born woman to visit space.
Since then, Echazarreta has dedicated her time to getting children interested in space science. At the inauguration of the Mars Mission 2023 Space Camp, she spoke of the subject most dear to her heart since she went to space:
“The children of Mexico asked me a question,” she said. “They asked, ‘How can I do what you did? What do I have to do?’ I replied to those children: ‘You will have to study hard, and you will have to work hard because this is not easy. But I will promise you something. I promise that while you study, while you work, while you do your best, I will do the same.”
The first group of 25 Mexican teens are off to Space Camp.
Echazarreta told the children that she would be working to create the opportunities they needed.
“And when you are ready, the opportunities are going to be there waiting for you,’ she told them.
The space camp running this month in Jalisco is the fruit of that promise.
“We have just succeeded in setting up a space camp in Mexico,” she told the children currently participating in this month’s event. “We are creating real possibilities for you to go into space.”
The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, since 1985. His most recent book is Outdoors in Western Mexico, Volume Three. More of his writing can be found on his blog.
The facility being fought over is the Sac Tun company's marine terminal in Punta Venado, Quintana Roo, near Playa del Carmen. Sac Tun is a subsidiary of Vulcan Materials. (Sac Tun)
President López Obrador said Thursday that the government would offer 6.5 billion pesos (US $389.7 million) to United States construction aggregates company Vulcan Materials for its property on the Caribbean coast of Quintana Roo.
In March, Mexico forcibly occupied Vulcan’s marine terminal on the property, owned by subsidiary Sac Tun, so that the Mexican company Cemex could unload a shipment of cement there. Cemex and Sac Tun eventually reached a temporary agreement to continue cement deliveries there, but the incident added to already high tensions between Vulcan and the government. (Internet)
He said that the Ministry of Finance had appraised the company’s 2,400-hectare property at 6.5 billion pesos. Vulcan operated a limestone quarry on the site near Playa del Carmen for about 30 years, but the current government shut it down last year due to alleged environmental damage and the company’s alleged failure to obtain required permits.
On Thursday, López Obrador said that Vulcan “shouldn’t reject the offer we’re making.”
“What is the offer? We’ll buy everything from them, we’ll pay immediately and we’ll turn this part, 2,000 hectares, the largest area of the land, into a natural protected area,” López Obrador said.
“They’ll feel satisfied, they’ll be able to say, ‘we’re contributing to stopping climate change.’ And we’ll declare a natural protected area and we’ll only keep [one part] to carry out an ecotourism development … with a … cruise ship pier,” he said.
President López Obrador on Thursday appeared to make a veiled threat of seizing the 2,400-hectare property without compensation if Vulcan Materials didn’t accept the government’s offer before the end of his term in September 2024. (Presidencia)
The amount the government intends to offer for the Punta Venado property is well below a US $1.9 billion valuation included in papers filed by Vulcan before an international arbitration panel.
According to an Associated Press report, López Obrador “left open a vague threat of seizing the property” if the government’s offer isn’t accepted before he leaves office at the end of September 2024.
“Before I leave [office], this is going to be resolved, one way or another,” he said.
López Obrador also said that as soon as an agreement is reached with Vulcan, the company would have to withdraw complaints it has filed with the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which is part of the World Bank Group. Vulcan filed a complaint with the ICSID in 2018 over a disagreement with the previous federal government.
In addition to shutting down the company’s quarry in May 2022, the federal Environment Ministry prohibited Vulcan from exporting stone that had been used in construction projects in the United States and Mexico. The company is seeking US $1.5 billion in compensation, arguing that it had all the required permits to operate its quarry and export the extracted gravel.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in March that Mexican authorities’ takeover of Vulcan’s marine terminal could have a “chilling effect” on future U.S. investment in Mexico.
Undisputed ownership of the marine terminal would allow the Mexican government to ship gravel and cement into the country much more efficiently for the Maya Train project. (Government of Mexico)
The takeover allowed building materials company Cemex to unload cargo at the terminal. Vulcan and Cemex reached an agreement in late March that allowed the latter to use the former’s facility.
If the government’s bid to buy Vulcan’s property succeeds, it could use the marine terminal to bring gravel and cement into the country for the Maya Train railroad project, which is scheduled to start operations in late 2023. The government has imported crushed stone known as ballast from Cuba for the project because there are no local suppliers of the material.
AP reported that ships bringing the stone to Mexico have had to dock in Sisal on the Gulf of Mexico side of the Yucatán Peninsula because the only private freight dock on the Caribbean side capable of receiving such shipments is that owned by Vulcan.
The distance between Sisal and Cuba is considerably longer than that between Punta Venado and the Caribbean island nation. Ballast arriving in Sisal has been trucked some 300 km to some Maya Train construction sites, AP said.
