With ApoyArte, the goal is to distribute 500 million pesos ($26.8 million) to 17,000 producers from various regions of the country this year, particularly in the Costa Chica municipalities of Guerrero and Oaxaca. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum unveiled a new credit program for Indigenous female artisans during an official visit to Mexico’s Pacific Guerrero state on Sunday, calling it “ApoyArte.”
The program’s name combines the words to help (apoyar) and art (arte) and aims to promote the skills of Mexico’s Indigenous women by offering them interest-free loans of up to 30,000 pesos (US $1,608) with extended repayment terms.
Sheinbaum and Governor Evelyn Salgado met with women artisans from the Amuzgo community in the Xochistlahuaca municipality of Guerrero. (Claudia Sheinbaum/X)
“Being the first (female president) forces me to look at all the people, but especially at the women of our country: rural women, working women, young women, older women, but above all, it forces me to look at Indigenous women, those who for centuries were the most invisible, the most excluded, and the most forgotten,” Sheinbaum said during Sunday’s presentation.
The program, operated by Financiera del Bienestar (Finabien), will help artisans cover the textile costs required to develop their businesses, seeking to strengthen the financial autonomy of Indigenous and Afro-Mexican women across Mexico.
During the tour, Sheinbaum and Guerrero’s Governor Evelyn Salgado met with women artisans from the Amuzgo community in the Xochistlahuaca municipality who continue to use the backstrap loom, an ancient textile-making technique that the government seeks to preserve.
As part of the program, Mexico’s National Fund for the Promotion of Handicrafts (Fonart) will provide financial advice to the beneficiaries, as well as guarantee the sale of huipiles and other garments made by participating artisans at a fair price.
To date, 11,000 loan applications have been received, with approvals delivered to almost 6,000 women, supported by 170 million pesos (US $9.1 million) in funding.
The goal is to distribute 500 million pesos ($26.8 million) to 17,000 producers from various regions of the country this year, particularly in the Costa Chica municipalities of Guerrero and Oaxaca, where Indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities are concentrated.
Artisans in Guerrero and Oaxaca use backstrap looms to weave traditional huipiles and other textiles, using symbolism-rich designs. (Dassaev Téllez Adame/Cuartoscuro)
Sheinbaum’s government designated 2025 as the Year of the Indigenous Woman.
The study showed that while Mexico has a high entrepreneurial spirit, there is a significant lack of new business creation, largely due to funding restrictions and a lack of business acumen, a gap that programs such as ApoyArte seek to fill.
INEGI also reported that the Mexican economy grew 0.9% in the first six months of the year compared to the same period of 2024. (Mireya Novo/Cuartoscuro)
The Mexican economy grew 0.6% in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the previous three-month period and 1.2% in annual terms, the national statistics agency INEGI reported.
The 1.2% annual growth rate was unchanged from INEGI’s preliminary data.
INEGI also reported that the Mexican economy grew 0.9% in the first six months of the year compared to the same period of 2024.
The 0.6% quarter-over-quarter growth rate between April and June came after a 0.3% sequential expansion in the first quarter of 2025 and a 0.6% contraction in the final three months of last year.
The Mexican economy has grown in 2025 despite the United States’ imposition of tariffs on a range of imports from Mexico. However, the annual growth rate in the first six months of the year is the weakest since the COVID pandemic.
Separately, and despite U.S. tariffs, foreign direct investment in Mexico rose to nearly US $34.3 billion in the first six months of 2025, an increase of over 10% compared to the same period of last year.
Growth rates by sector
Over 60% of Mexico’s GDP is generated by the tertiary, or services, sector, while almost 34% comes from the secondary sector, which includes manufacturing, construction, mining and activities related to electricity, gas and water.
Only 4% of national GDP is generated by the primary sector, which includes farming and fishing and forestry activities.
Here are the 2025 growth rates by sector.
Q2 vs Q1
Compared to the first quarter of 2025, the tertiary sector recorded the strongest growth between April and June, expanding 0.8%.
The secondary sector, which includes manufacturing, construction, mining and electricity generation, grew 0.7%, while the primary sector contracted 2.4% compared to the first quarter of the year.
Annual growth in Q2
In sharp contrast to its quarter-over-quarter result, the primary sector grew 2.6% in annual terms between April and June.
The tertiary sector grew 1.8% annually, while the secondary sector contracted 0.3% compared to the second quarter of 2024.
Annual growth in first 6 months of 2025
The primary sector grew 4.6% annually between January and June, while the tertiary sector expanded 1.5%.
The secondary sector contracted 0.8% compared to the first six months of 2024.
Other need-to-know economic data
INEGI reported on Friday that Mexico’s annual headline inflation rate was 3.49% in the first half of August, down from 3.51% across July.
The colors and sights of San Miguel de Allende are an almost meditative experience. Resident Bruce Sarbit explains what it's like to roam the streets of the best small city in the world. (All photos by George Aronson and Lynn Padwe)
For nine years now, we’ve been wintering the worst three months of the Canadian winter in San Miguel de Allende. It has become our second home. Situated approximately 1,900 meters (6,200 feet) above sea level on a vast plateau in the central highlands of Mexico, San Miguel de Allende blends dramatic geography, colonial architecture and vibrant culture.
The city was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008 and has repeatedly been named as the best small city in the world by Travel + Leisure Magazine. There are so many reasons, among them that it’s charmingly rustic, welcoming, warm and friendly. For many of us, however, it’s also that San Miguel de Allende is an incredible stimulus to the senses.
San Miguel de Allende is a whirl of color, vibrancy and life.
A synesthetic experience of a city
In addition to the five main senses — sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell — particularly important in San Miguel de Allende is “proprioception.” For the uninitiated, that’s how the brain grasps where the body, including its limbs and muscles, is in space. Many visitors to San Miguel de Allende, challenged by its cobblestone streets and narrow sidewalks, can attest to its impact on their balance, not to mention their knees and ankles.
Some people are blessed with a special sense called “synesthesia,” which transcends the traditional five we all know by combining them. Stimulation of one sense leads to involuntary experiences in a second sense. For instance, people who see colors when listening to music, see shapes when they encounter certain scents, or experience tastes when looking at certain words, may be said to have synesthesia.
But, here’s the thing: Even without having synesthesia, almost all of us in San Miguel de Allende experience an amalgam of senses at every turn.
Sight, perceived through the eyes, is a complex process. The rods, more sensitive to light, help us to see in dim settings, while the cones function in bright light, enabling us to see the colors of San Miguel de Allende, where no two ever seem to clash.
The sights of San Miguel de Allende
The cobbled streets of San Miguel slope across the hillsides.
There are the undulating cobblestoned streets lined with vivid, multicoloured colonial-era architecture, many of them concealing lush gardens behind imposing, stately doors.
Ochre, sienna, cobalt blue, and deep reds paint the colonial buildings, juxtaposed with gorgeous purply-blue jacarandas, red frangipani and bougainvillea draped over stone walls.
Churches
Stately doors are adorned with flowers, wood branches, ornaments and door-knockers. Well-coifed trees, benches and the gazebo in the marvellous Jardín Allende frame the picturesque Parroquia.
The Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel, its façade by Don Zeferino Gutiérrez, was inspired by postcards from Gothic European cathedrals, especially that of Cologne. When lit dramatically at night, it is mesmerizing — its pink towers rising into crisp blue skies.
The Baroque San Rafael or Santa Escuela Church, whose clock is the city’s official timekeeper, features bells that toll every 15 minutes.
There’s also the Oratorio de St. Philip Neri, its Baroque-style sandstone façade covered with profuse vegetative ornamentation, and the Templo de San Juan de Dios, the hospital next door that’s now a school.
The towering spire of San Miguel’s Parroquia dominates almost any view of the city.
Consider the Church of the Immaculate Conception (Templo de la Purísima Concepción), its construction based on Paris’ Les Invalides. Currently a convent for nuns, its dome was added by Don Zeferino Gutiérrez.
Seek out the stately great snowy egrets nesting in the lofty jacaranda trees over the wash basins of El Chorro. El Chorro was the meeting point for the women who, from different parts of the city, came to wash their clothes with the spring water that gave rise to the city. Look for it and the incredible nest of parrots on Calle Alameda.
Streets
Take a leisurely stroll down Tercera Cerrada de Pila Seca, also known as Rinconada de la Aldea.
Stare in awe at the spectacular sunsets that bathe the city in warm, golden light, viewed from rooftop terraces such as Los Milagros Terraza, Quince, La Azotea, the Rosewood’s Luna, or from the Mirador or hilltops. They’re breathtaking.
Ponder the Calle Querebrada Bridge, as one looks west at Canal from the Bellas Artes, or that grand hall of art and design, the Fabrica Aurora, housed in a former textile factory.
Visit Casa de los Soles, its hotel courtyard covered in thousands of ceramic sun sculptures, or the hulking adobe and fieldstone Instituto Allende, an art education center for more than 70 years, now a hub of lifelong learning, its walls covered with the expressionist works of David Leonardo Chávez.
The colonial architecture of San Miguel begs visitors to surrender themselves to a kind of visual hedonism.
Culture
Take in the elegant Bellas Artes (El Centro Culturál Ignacio Ramírez, aka “El Nigromante”), where the monastery of La Concepción church became a fine-arts school housing the magnificent murals of Pedro Martínez and the extraordinary unfinished mural by David Alfaro Siqueiros.
Check out the grand Biblioteca, the largest English-language library in Mexico, with a fabulous ceiling mural in its bookstore.
One can scarcely blink, as galleries, hand-painted tiles, artisanal storefronts and intricate ironwork catch the eye at every turn.
As does art by Friedeberg, Carrington, Levanthal, Cranston, Brooks and so many others who made San Miguel de Allende their home and inspiration.
The panoply of Guadeloupe murals, many featuring Mexican themes like Huichol mythology, some more abstract, reveals the multicultural sides of San Miguel de Allende.
There’s the grandeur of the colonial-style Rosewood Hotel tucked amid lush gardens and colorful bursts of flowers.
Even the quietest, most unassuming street corners are filled with life.
And El Charco del Ingenio, whose name comes from a spring-fed pool nestled in an impressive canyon with cacti and other succulent Mexican plants, many of which are rare, threatened or in danger of extinction.
The Spring Equinox celebration and the Festival of the Sun are also feasts for the senses, celebrated with a concert in El Charco’s natural amphitheater.
Nor should one fail to appreciate Parque Guadiana, with its variety of trees and plants, its fountains and butterfly garden.
Admire Parque Zeferino Gutierrez, with its trail surrounding a lake, a beautiful fountain, and the impressive statue called “La Giganta.”
Stop by the Museo de Esquina, which has a wonderful collection of Mexico’s folkloric toys, or the Mask Museum, which boasts an amazing retrospective of Indigenous masks and their ceremonial use.
Even the cemeteries are filled with wonder.
Respectfully stroll the cemetery, Our Lady of Guadalupe, with its traditional pantheon of gravesites.
Markets
Bask in the profusion of colors at the bustling San Juan de Dios Market, the indoor section featuring balloon-decorated stalls with magnificent baskets of fruit and vegetables piled high. Outdoor stalls, which sprawl for several blocks, offer wares ranging from raw meats to flowers and clothing.
The Mercado de Artesanías beckons, too, with its stalls spilling over with Mexican pewter platters, bright ceramics, jewelry, picture frames, mirrors, bowls and woven tablecloths. At its eastern end is the local fruit, flower, and vegetable mercado, Ignacio Ramírez Market, located behind Plaza Civica, where the women in traditional dress sit on the floor surrounded by piles of herbs and cactus leaves, or their baskets of freshly prepared tortillas.
At Mercado Del Carmen, a food court promises bars, an Italian restaurant, Japanese desserts, and gourmet tacos. Numerous vendors sell wild mushrooms, local honey, and fresh juices.
Then there’s the monster Tuesday Market stretching nearly 1,000 feet under giant tarps. Beneath them and for sale are “seasonal and imported produce, antiques, blown glass, hand-carved furniture, pirated DVDs, computers, tablets, boom-boxes, handmade huaraches, Barbie dolls, goldfish, pet birds, tools, bicycles, buttons, used and new clothes, fresh fish and local honey and cheeses.”
And the wonderful Saturday Organic Market (Tianguis Orgánico),where people indulge in delicious organic breakfasts as they shop for organic produce and prepared foods, clothing, rugs, and jewelry.
Conchoneros dance in the streets.
Did I mention the street vendor food carts selling tacos, ice cream and BBQ?
People
Religious observances are frequent but anything but common. There’s the Blessing of the Animals, celebrating the feast day of San Antonio Abad. Pets and farm animals, from goldfish to donkeys, are brought to the churches to be blessed by the priest.
One may also be greeted by church bells, dances and fireworks, the arrival of pilgrims carrying banners, singing songs, chanting and praying for the peregrinación, or pilgrimage, to the small town of San Juan de los Lagos and its small shrine to the Virgin Mary. The pilgrimage is the largest in the Western Hemisphere, with some three million people from across Mexico, nearly 20,000 of them starting in San Miguel and environs, walking and sleeping out in the open for nine days.
Behold as well the Festival of Our Lord of the Conquest when the faithful come to the Parroquia to recite prayers, one for each of the 33 years of Jesus’ life, and where Indigenous concheros wearing brightly decorated costumes and plumed headdresses dance from dawn until dusk to the deep, steady beat of large drums in honour of “Christ of the Conquest,” a statue in the church representing the acceptance of Christ by Mexico’s Indigenous people.
And once a year, on Allende’s Birthday, there’s a joyous parade of school marching bands celebrating the town’s iconic hero, down the Ancha de San Antonio to El Centro and the Parroquia. This year, on the stage in front, the San Miguel de Allende symphony played before the most magnificent fireworks we have ever experienced. As we ate our 2-for-1 paletas, we stood in awe, watching, certain that we’d never forget the splendid sight we were witnessing.
Bruce Sarbit is a San Miguel de Allende resident.
George Aronson and Lynn Padwe are professional photographers who split their time between San Miguel de Allende and New York City.
Officials estimate that between 300 and 350 crocodiles live in the Bay of Banderas, which forms Puerto Vallarta's coastline. (Unsplash)
Authorities in the state of Jalisco are set to launch the second phase of a strategy designed to reduce conflicts between people and crocodiles in Puerto Vallarta, home to several hundred of the protected reptiles.
The state’s environmental protection agency (Semadet) announced last week that the next stage of the Strategy for Responsible Coexistence between Humans and Crocodiles will begin the first week of September.
Jalisco environmental authorities are convinced that a well-respected plan with a set of rules for interaction is the best way for humans and crocodiles to coexist safely in Puerto Vallarta. (@noticiaspv/on X)
This comes on the heels of several alarming incidents in Puerto Vallarta last month, including the killing of two adult crocodiles — one found decapitated with some of its tail cut off in the protected El Salado Estuary, another tied up by its snout and legs with bullet wounds to the head.
In addition, lifeguards at one popular beach captured a 3.7-meter (12-foot) crocodile and relocated it to a safe area outside the tourist zone.
Officials said a big part of the bilingual plan is already being disseminated through social media and includes a partnership with local hotels to get information in English to tourists.
Using infographics with clear and accessible language, the materials explain the ecological importance of crocodiles, how to behave in their presence and what actions to take in the event of an encounter.
“The important thing is to stop the negative interactions that have led to accidents and consolidate a long-term strategy for healthy coexistence,” said José Daniel Graff Pérez, Semadet’s director general of natural resources.
He described the information as “simple, engaging and non-scientific” and that it can be “understood by both children and adults.”
🐊 Hoy, en el Día Nacional del Cocodrilo, recordamos la importancia de respetar su hábitat y convivir de manera responsable con esta especie.
The second phase will begin with a working group that includes state and municipal authorities, academics and specialists.
Short-term goals of this phase include posting warning signs and establishing clearer responsibilities for institutions.
Officials estimate between 300 and 350 crocodiles live in the Bay of Banderas, with only about 45 breeding adults.
Roughly 60 live within the El Salado Estuary, where that one croc was found decapitated.
“It was a disturbing and violent incident,” Graf Pérez said, noting that the crime was committed by intruders who had entered the protected area. “With such small numbers, the viability of the population is at risk.”
The area’s beaches are places of transit for crocodiles, who often move through the sea because their natural habitat of estuaries and mangroves have shrunk due to urban growth and tourism.
Moreover, the rainy season expands local waterways, encouraging crocodiles to seek new feeding and breeding grounds. As a result, crocodile sightings increase around this time of year.
The breeding season, which peaks in July and August, is considered a particularly sensitive period for the species.
Rubio first expressed his intention to visit Mexico in May. Three months later, it may finally happen. (Marco Rubio/X)
President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that it is likely that United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio will come to Mexico next week to sign a new bilateral security agreement.
🇲🇽🇺🇸 Sheinbaum anuncia posible visita de Marco Rubio a México
La presidenta @Claudiashein informó que el secretario de Estado de EUA, @marcorubio, podría visitar México en la primera semana de septiembre para firmar el acuerdo de seguridad bilateral; sin embargo, aclaró que la… pic.twitter.com/PHb4eBWCrj
Asked whether the new Mexico-U.S. security agreement would be signed during Rubio’s visit, Sheinbaum responded: “Yes, that’s the idea.”
The president has said on repeated occasions this month that the new security agreement is “ready.”
She said last week that the bilateral pact was on the verge of being signed and is “fundamentally” based on “sovereignty, mutual trust, territorial respect … and coordination without subordination.”
“They are the four principles,” Sheinbaum said last Tuesday.
Pact to be signed amid tension in the Mexico-US relationship
The signing of a new Mexico-U.S. security agreement in the first week of September would come after an eventful and turbulent August.
On Aug. 8, The New York Times reported that U.S. President Donald Trump had “secretly signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels that his administration has deemed terrorist organizations.”
“We cooperate [with the U.S. on security], we collaborate, but there will be no invasion. That’s ruled out … because, in addition to what we’ve stated in all our conversations, it’s not allowed, nor is it part of any agreement,” she said at her Aug. 8 press conference.
Earlier in August, the president said that a U.S. military intervention in Mexico is “not on the table,” and throughout the month — and indeed during the entirety of her presidency to date — she has stressed that her government would never accept any kind of violation of Mexico’s sovereignty.
Also in August, Sheinbaum asserted that her government hasn’t entered into an agreement with the DEA after the U.S. agency announced what it called a “bold bilateral initiative to dismantle cartel gatekeepers and combat synthetic drug trafficking.”
Sheinbaum’s frequent pushback to U.S. announcements and rhetoric has occurred as Trump and other U.S. officials have talked tough about their desire, and intention, to combat Mexican cartels that smuggle large quantities of fentanyl and other narcotics into the U.S.
Sheinbaum revealed in May that she had rejected an offer from the U.S. president to send the U.S. army into Mexico to combat criminal groups such as the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, both of which are now designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. government.
President Sheinbaum has sent 10,000 National Guard troops to patrol the Mexico-U.S. border as part of an agreement with the United States. (Galo Cañas Rodríguez/Cuartoscuro)
The pressure on Mexico from Trump, largely in the form of the threat — and imposition — of tariffs has been relentless. His administration has even asserted that “Mexican drug trafficking organizations have an intolerable alliance with the government of Mexico,” and that “the government of Mexico has afforded safe havens for the cartels to engage in the manufacturing and transportation of dangerous narcotics.”
All these factors, and others, add up to a complex and tense bilateral security environment even as Sheinbaum and Trump maintain that they, and their governments, have a good working relationship.
The signing of a new security pact between Mexico and the United States should give greater clarity and renewed impetus to the joint fight against organized crime, but the complexity and tension in the security relationship will likely remain, as will the calls of some U.S. officials and politicians — and some Mexican ones as well — for the U.S. to adopt a more proactive, and even bellicose, posture, against Mexican cartels.
Founder of Mi Gran Esperanza, Bertha Padilla de Pérez, with some of the children her charity has helped over the years. (Mi Gran Esperanza)
Cancer is frightening enough when it afflicts adults. To see it strike children is truly heartbreaking. But what about children whose families have no insurance and no resources?
In 1995, Bertha Padilla de Pérez came upon such children in Guadalajara’s Fray Antonio Alcalde Hospital — too many of them.
Children and volunteers at the 30th anniversary celebrations. (Mi Gran Esperanza)
Bertha had been invited to tour the hospital by her cousin, pediatrician Horacio Padilla.
“How can I help?” she asked him.
In short order, she and 14 friends set up an Asociación Civil, a nonprofit organization collecting food, clothes, and medicines for the needy families.
They called themselves Mi Gran Esperanza, My Big Hope, and, little by little, they reached the point where they could buy a house where family members of the children — who came from all over Jalisco and neighboring states — could stay, free of charge.
6,500 kids later
“This is how we started out, with zero pesos,” I was told by Mayte Medrano, the present-day Director of Mi Gran Esperanza, “and during the last 30 years we’ve been able to help over 6,500 patients. Today, many of those patients have grown up, completely recuperated, with families of their own.”
Erick Cervantes and Mayte Medrano with some of the children that Mi Gran Esperanza has helped over the years.(Erick Cervantes)
At the moment, Mi Gran Esperanza is helping some 500 families.
“We provide them with a food basket, medicine, treatments like immunotherapy, x-rays, or mammograms, but we also give them workshops, which is very important when the problem is cancer. They need healthy food and good hygiene and we make sure they get the message.
“My job as Director is to keep funds coming in so all this can go on, to contact government, foundations, embassies, corporations, to schedule events, and to train an interdisciplinary team.”
Transparency
Medrano told me she is working on ways to make Mi Gran Esperanza more international, so donations they receive from abroad will be tax-deductible in the donor’s country.
“I’m thinking about people in the U.S.,” she told me. “They are very generous with causes like ours. Here in Mexico, there is more skepticism. So one of the pillars of our organization is transparency. We want people to be sure that every peso they give to Mi Gran Esperanza goes directly to the patients’ treatments. This has become part of our reputation. People know that we do things well.”
One of the ways Mi Gran Esperanza raises money is by holding a bazaar once or twice a month.
I asked one of the volunteers at the bazaar, expat John Baird, what it’s like.
Knick-knacks and a coffin
“After my wife died,” Baird told me, “I was looking for something to do, so I started going to their facility in downtown Guadalajara and offering to help. They have three or four trucks that go out every day and make the rounds, and they pick up recycled paper, bottle caps, knick-knacks, furniture and clothes, which they bring to the recycling center where it gets sorted by volunteers like me. By the way, you never know what is going to be in a bag or a box when you open it. For example, we found a miniature, handmade coffin three weeks ago. There were 43 hearts painted on it, so I knew it referred to the 43 students in Guerrero who disappeared in 2014. This coffin was probably carried in a march.
“Once a month, they also receive donations of food items, which they give to people who have a family member being treated in the Civil Hospital. I help hand out the food when I can.
“I usually go there twice a month. It’s sweaty, good work for a good cause. It’s fun!”
You can find just about anything at Mi Gran Esperanza’s bazaar. (John Baird)
Since Mi Gran Esperanza has been around for 30 years, I asked Mayte Medrano if she could put me in contact with one of the children they helped years ago, now grown to adulthood.
From cancer patient to manager
“That’s easy,” she said. “We have a staff member right here who came to Mi Gran Esperanza 25 years ago with cancer and today he is our Communications Manager. Meet Erick Cervantes!”
“I’m from Guadalajara,” Cervantes explained. “When I was seven years old, they discovered I had a form of Hodgkin’s Disease. So I went to the old Civil Hospital, and then they accepted me in the new building. That’s when I got help from Mi Gran Esperanza for medicines that I needed and for treatments that the hospital couldn’t provide.
“For ten months, I received chemotherapy at the hospital and 20 or 25 sessions of radiation therapy. After that, they pronounced me free of cancer, but for the next 10 years, I was monitored and had to make regular visits to the hospital for studies and checkups.
“So I was able to go study Business Administration… and today I’m a manager at Mi Gran Esperanza,
“I’m happy to be giving something back to Mi Gran Esperanza for what it gave to me and to my mother.”
John Pint has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, for more than 30 years and is the author of “A Guide to West Mexico’s Guachimontones and Surrounding Area” and co-author of “Outdoors in Western Mexico.” More of his writing can be found on his website.
“Just like Tajín, these shades bring boldness, warmth and a spark of joy to every occasion," the Mexican-American actress said of the set. (Selena Gómez/Instagram)
Cosmetic brand Rare Beauty, owned by U.S. actress and singer of Mexican descent Selena Gómez, has launched an exclusive, limited-edition makeup kit in collaboration with the Mexican seasoning Tajín, which is now available for purchase in Mexico.
“This collab is a celebration of what makes us unique — our culture, our energy and the moments that bring us together,” Gómez said in a press statement. “Just like Tajín, these shades bring boldness, warmth and a spark of joy to every occasion.”
The limited edition set includes a 0.11 fluid ounce bottle of Positive Light Luminizing Lip Gloss in the Classic shade, a terracotta color with gold and copper shimmer, and a 0.25 fluid ounce bottle of Soft Pinch Liquid Blush in the Chamoy shade, a deep red with a brown undertone. Both offer warm and original tones, inspired by two typical Mexican flavors and colors.
Tajín Classic is made from a mixture of dried chilies, dehydrated lemon and sea salt, while Chamoy is a Mexican seasoning that combines sweet, sour, salty and spicy flavors. But do not fret – the lipsticks do not actually contain Tajín.
The set costs approximately 730 Mexican pesos in Mexico (US $39) and is available online through Rare Beauty’s official website and at Sephora México, both in physical and digital stores.Customers are limited to two sets per order.
Consumers’ response has been positive on social media, with comments expressing nostalgia and enthusiasm.
“The way my sisters and I would play with chamoy as lip gloss growing up,” an Instagram user commented on Rare Beauty and Tajín’s post promoting the collaboration. “Amoooo (love it),” she wrote.
Another user said in a TikTok video that the new collaboration was “made in heaven.”
Beyond the fun of it, Gómez said that she chose Tajín because it’s a product she grew up with and that she has consumed throughout her life. The actress’s father, Ricardo Joel Gómez, is originally from Monterrey, Nuevo León. However, her grandparents, Mary and Ricardo, are from Guadalajara, Jalisco, the very birthplace of Tajín.
Gómez, who rose to fame as a Disney Channel child star, has expressed how proud she is to have Mexican roots.
“I’m a proud third-generation Mexican-American, and my family’s journey and sacrifices helped me get to where I am today,” she told Vogue in an interview. Even after her parents’ divorce when she was five years old, Gómez has said that her father’s family instilled in her “a diversity of customs and traditions” that made her life “much richer” and helped her become the person that she is today.
This isn’t Gómez’s first collaboration with a food brand in a nod to her Mexican heritage. In May, she teamed up with Oreo to launch limited-edition cookies inspired by horchata, a Mexican drink made from a base of rice water, condensed milk and cinnamon.
The storm dumped 80 millimeters per square meter between Friday night and Saturday morning. (X)
Heavy rains on Friday and Saturday claimed the lives of three people and caused severe damage in the state of Querétaro, prompting the mayor of the state capital to declare a state of emergency in three municipalities.
Querétaro city, the capital of the industrial state to the north of Mexico City, was hit hardest, with flooding and destruction primarily impacting the northern and southern areas of the city of 2.4 million people.
Mayor Felipe Fernando Macías said the heaviest rain occurred on Friday night. He said the storm, starting at around 6 p.m., dumped 80 millimeters per square meter overnight, adding that 30 millimeters per square meter is considered dangerous.
Local authorities said more than 2,200 homes were damaged and manufacturing firms were just beginning to evaluate the impact on their facilities.
On Friday, the Querétaro Municipal Civil Protection agency reported the discovery of two bodies, a man and a woman, in the Peñuelas neighborhood of the capital. The victims were apparently swept away by rushing stormwaters.
The hardest hit neighborhoods of Querétaro were Menchaca 1, Carrillo Puerto, Lomas de San Pedrito Peñuelas, San Pedrito Peñuelas I, El Sabino and Peñuelas. (Mauricio Kuri/X)
The state of emergency — declared on Saturday — established a curfew, ordered businesses and factories in affected areas shuttered, restricted public transportation and closed bridges and roads that were damaged by the rain and floodwaters.
The federal government activated an emergency response as well, sending troops from the 17th Military Zone under the command of Brigadier General José Guillermo Lira to the state.
As of Monday, the three levels of government had dispersed 1,400 cleaning kits, 1,500 emergency food parcels and 18,000 sandbags to different neighborhoods in the capital.
Rain remains in the forecast for Querétaro throughout Monday and Tuesday. Residents are urged to report flood damage to the following local number: 442 101 5205, option 1.
The World Fair of 1889 was the moment that Mexico unveiled itself to the world as a major cultural force, in a meticulously planned appearance in Paris. (Public domain)
The event that put the World Fair on the map was London’s Great Exhibition of 1851. Promoted by Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, it was held in a giant glass and iron pavilion — the Crystal Palace — in Hyde Park, London. These early exhibitions changed society. Thousands of working-class people bought excursion tickets on the new railways to visit the show, and in doing so changed the nature of tourism. The big profits in the travel industry no longer came from bringing a few lords and ladies to luxury spas. Rather, it was all about getting thousands of factory workers to come to the seaside for their holidays.
It was World Fairs that gave the first demonstrations of the telephone, flushing toilets and the ice cream cone and it was World Fairs that first inspired the mass production of tourist souvenirs.
London’s Crystal Palace exhibit in 1851 helped to put the concept of a World Fair on the map. (Public domain)
Mexico’s first World Fair exhibits
Mexico’s first participation in a World Fair came in 1876. The venue was Philadelphia, and the occasion was the centennial of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, which had been signed in that city. There were over nine million visitors, and among the highlights was the chance to see the torch-bearing arm of the Statue of Liberty, the statue being under construction at the time. Only ten years had passed since the execution of Emperor Maximilian, and Mexico was still seen as a backward and unruly country. A Mexican representative to the U.S., Gabriel Mancera, convinced the Mexican government that participation might help repair the country’s tarnished image. However, Mexico lacked experience with such events, and there were insufficient funds to support a major exhibition. The Mexican impact was therefore minimal, with exhibitions in a small area in the “international”building and some minor representation in the art gallery.
Two years later, an international fair was held in Paris, where the task of promoting Mexico was left to private enterprise. Once again, the Mexican exhibition made little impact. The review magazine, Les Merveilles de l’Exposition de 1878, praised the maps of Messrs. Debray and Co. and the onyx marbles of Messrs. Guttierez, but beyond that, they noted, “We see nothing of interest. Hemp, cigarettes, a small quantity of chemical and pharmaceutical products, goat skins, vanilla and mescal brandy, that is the Mexican exhibition.”
The next decade was largely a time of peace and economic progress under the autocratic rule of Porfirio Díaz, with mining and the building of railroads bringing in foreign investment. As the small Mexican elite mixed with foreign businessmen in the office and the sports club, they started to look to the outside world with more interest. This drove Mexico’s return to international exhibitions. In 1884, Mexico was represented at the World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition, a largely forgotten event staged in New Orleans to commemorate the emergence of the post-Civil War American South. The Mexican presence in New Orleans was an expensive enterprise, with Ramón Ibarrola designing a multicoloured steel-and-iron Moorish-style Mexican Pavilion. This can still be seen today, on the Alameda in Santa María la Ribera.
The World Fair of 1889
Five years later, in 1889, a world exposition was staged in Paris. Costing 46 million francs, it is considered the greatest fair of the century and has left a legacy that stillimpacts the host city, for the centerpiece was none other than the 330-meter Eiffel Tower. Intended to be dismantled after twenty years, the tower remains the iconic symbol of the city today. Although eventually successful, the fair was controversial at the time. The theme was the Republican values of the French Revolution, and although nearly a century had passed since the execution of Louis XVI, a number of countries with monarchies did not officially take part. However, thanks to French diplomatic efforts, their absence was barely noticed. The French Empire stepped up to fill the gap, boycotting countries were still presented by individual companies, Thomas Alva Edison brought his new phonograph, Buffalo Bill brought his Wild West Show and Mexico stole the show with their Mexica-inspired pavilion.
There was little to fault the Mexican organization. A central organizing committee was approved, this made up of a team of high-profile representatives from the various ministries. This grand committee appointed teams to oversee the nine groups that would make up the Mexican exhibition. Fully funded by the government, the team departed for Paris with a budget of 5 million francs (then almost 1.5 million pesos), the largest fund of any nation at the exposition.
Mexican participation in the World Fair of 1889
An illustrated map for the World’s Fair of 1889 in Paris. (Public Domain)
Ramón Fernández, the Minister of Mexico in Paris, was a great supporter of Mexican participation, and work started on the Mexican pavilion. The successful 1884 pavilion in New Orleans had drawn from Mexico’s Spanish culture, which in turn was heavily influenced by Arabic designs. The architectural team for Paris had access to a pre-publication copy of Dr. Peñafiel’s “Monuments of Ancient Mexican Art.” Now, for the first time, there was sufficient knowledge to allow the pavilion to take on a Mexica-like appearance. This temple-like building would cover 2,159 square meters with two side pavilions flanking the main hall, from which an elegant double staircase led to the upper galleries.
Once the project was approved by the Mexican government, negotiations started with the French over the location. A small area had been assigned to the Latin American countries, but this space might have to be shared with the exhibits of some European countries, something Mexico wanted to avoid. After long negotiations, Mexico was granted a rectangular area 70 meters long and 30 meters wide. This was next to Argentina’s exhibit. However, as desired, it was some distance from the European displays.
Mexico’s image portrayed to the world
As the exhibits started to be placed in the pavilion — maps, samples of rocks and minerals, tobacco, hides and skins, building materials, sugars, wines and spirits, plants, flowers and fruits, gold, silver, henequen, coffee, cacao and endless photographs — it started to portray an image of modern Mexico. There was a particularly impressive collection of Mexican textiles, displayed on mannequins that reflected the size and build of the native people of the various Mexican regions. The fact that the Mexican factories producing many of these goods lagged behind Europe and the United States in technology was not hidden, but exploited. It allowed Mexico to be portrayed as an ideal place to invest.
There was also a political side to the exhibition. The Mexican government was anxious to show that it had brought stability to an often turbulent country, and there were photos of new national monuments and buildings, as well as drawings of future projects. Education was an important component of this, and there was a display of educational statistics, issues of major Mexican newspapers and journals, and numerous copies of works from schools.
Perhaps because it was so ambitious, the pavilion wasn’t inaugurated until June 22. However, with the Fair already open, this created a more dramatic spectacle. As the La Marseillaiseand the Mexican national anthem were played by the Mexican 101st battalion orchestra, French President Sadi Carnot, flanked by the directors of the exhibition and Mexican dignitaries, climbed the steps of what was called the “Aztec Palace.” At that very moment, the Eiffel Tower was lit up by fireworks, and the light fountains began their display. It was a delayed but perfect start to the show!
How Mexico fared at the World Fair of 1889
Mexico’s “Aztec Palace” exhibition at the World Fair of 1889 was a rousing success. (Public domain)
By the time the fair closed at the end of October, Mexico had come out with honour. As the Guide Bleu du Figaro et du Petit Journal 1889 summarised, “Mexico has done a great deal, and its exhibition must be ranked among the most remarkable.” It continued, “In the middle of this Street of American Nations, Mexico stands out in a very glorious way for this great country.”
After the success of Paris, we might question why Mexico did not attempt to stage a similar event, if on a smaller scale. There had been proposals in 1878 for a “Mexican-American Fair,” an idea that had resurfaced in 1880. One problem was that Mexico, for all its progress, was still a developing nation. Creating a picture of a vibrant Mexico in a pavilion in Paris or the U.S. was one thing. Inviting the world to come to a city that had its share of problems was quite another.
The story of Mexico at World Fairs continues into modern times. Dubai hosted the most recent global event, Expo 2020, where Mexico, with its cloth-wrapped pavilion and visual efforts, again put on an impressive show. It was a continuation of the legacy that started in Paris 131 years before.
Bob Pateman is a Mexico-based historian, librarian and a life term hasher. He is editor of On On Magazine, the international history magazine of hashing.
All tacos are made to be delicious, but some sound more delicious than others, it turns out. (Jeswin Thomas/Unsplash)
“What’s in a name?” Shakespeare’s Juliet once asked. “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” By this, I presume the Bard meant, as expressed through the guise of one of literary history’s most romantic characters, that names are but arbitrary labels we attach to things. They never fundamentally affect the character of what they describe.
For proof of the aptness of this perception, look no further than the taco. There are many varieties of this iconic street food from Mexico, after all, that have terrible-sounding names. Yet they’re still delicious. Would that which we call a taco envenenado, or “poisoned” taco, by any other name taste as good? Naturally, it’s the ingredients and preparations that matter, not the moniker attached.
Indeed, if Romeo had eaten a few tacos envenenados instead of drinking poison, he’d still be alive. So would Juliet. Such an ending would have spoiled the play’s tragic effect, of course. But tacos are anathema to such things as tragedy, despite their often unusual names.
The taco envenenado (poisoned tacos)
Tacos envenenados aren’t poisoned, despite what their name suggests. (Tacos Envenenados Zacatecas)
Tacos envenenados were invented in the state of Zacatecas. According to the most accepted origin story, they were invented by a taquero in the eponymous capital city named Don Lauro, who, circa 1940, placed a playful sign outside his shop at the train station that read: “Si quiere envenenarse, coma tacos.” If you want to be poisoned, eat tacos. It may not seem like the best public relations strategy. Nor was Don Lauro’s occasional claim that his tacos did contain poison. Yet these tasty treats soon became popular, with their fame eventually spreading beyond the borders of Zacatecas.
That’s because the name, as Shakespeare taught us, doesn’t signify. It’s the quality of the thing that counts, and Don Lauro’s tacos were special. It wasn’t just that the corn tortillas were larger than normal, or that beans, chile, chorizo and potatoes were particularly original fillings. Rather, it’s the frying of such ingredients in rendered pork fat (aka lard) that gives tacos envenenados their distinctive taste and golden color, and has caused the original recipe to be passed down for generations.
The taco sudado (sweaty tacos)
Despite their sometimes sweaty appearance, these tacos taste great. (B.jars)
Sudado means sweaty in Spanish. It’s a gross appellation to apply to a taco. Even a historically significant one. Although it’s worth noting that the sweating refers to an aspect of preparation, not perspiration.
However, the historical aspect is important. Mexico’s famed comfort food specialty emerged from the nation’s silver mines during the 18th century. The name taco came from the small charges used to break up ore. The original versions were appropriately called tacos mineros, which featured corn tortillas filled with simple ingredients like refried beans and potatoes and were kept warm in baskets.
Tacos sudados directly evolved from tacos mineros. So, later in the 20th century, did tacos de canasta. But these similar taco styles are not exactly synonymous. As Larousse Cocina clarifies, the corn tortillas for tacos sudados are dipped briefly in hot oil before being filled with ingredients and packed in baskets. This is what gives them the characteristic moisture from which their name derives.
The taco de basura (garbage tacos)
These ingredients didn’t come out of any trash can. (Tacos de Basura)
The basura or “garbage” taco emerged in Querétaro about 20 years ago. This more recent favorite takes its name from the sheer number of ingredients included, which makes it seem as if the cook was trying to toss in all the items he was convinced might go to waste.
Indeed, as the story goes, the taco’s moniker was given by a customer at Los Tacos del Güero, who took a gander at the veritable mountain of ingredients and decided it resembled nothing so much as a garbage pile. The
But don’t let the name fool you. Since these ingredients often include a veritable cornucopia of meats — bacon, beef, chorizo, ham, turkey and more — plus potatoes, nopales and boiled egg, the resulting corn tortilla-wrapped tacos are invariably both tasty and filling.
The taco de transmisión (transmission fluid tacos)
This oil didn’t come out of anyone’s car, and the resultant tacos sure taste great. (Tacos Michels Cnop)
There are some common themes in Mexico’s terrible-sounding tacos. One is a connection to mining culture, an element shared by tacos envenenados, tacos sudados, and tacos de transmisión. The latter was born in Parral, Chihuahua, a town notable for being the site of Pancho Villa’s assassination, but which also boasts a rich silver mining heritage.
Another common characteristic is frying, either in hot oil or lard. The taco transmisión, for example, gets its name from the dark, bubbling lard in which both its corn tortilla and beef or pork filling are cooked. In color and consistency, this often recycled oil is a dead ringer for the transmission oil that helps your car seamlessly shift gears.
These savory-tasting tacos are typically served with onion, cilantro, lime and salsa, with locals favoring Parral masters of the subspecialty such as Tacos La 20, Tacos Michel’s, or Tacos del Tec.
The taco de nada (nothing tacos)
Would the line be this long if the tacos were really nothing? (Taquitos de Nada Doña Lupita)
Alternatively known as tacos de nada or tacos de aire, neither descriptor (“nothing” or “air,” respectively) seems to promise much for hungry diners. So why do residents of Hermosillo, Sonora, line up around the block to buy these tacos invented by María Guadalupe del Toro Rodríguez, better known as Doña Lupita, nearly 40 years ago?
The corn tortilla and light potato filling, briefly fried in hot oil until golden brown, certainly offer a distinctive flavor. Particularly when topped with lettuce, cabbage and grated cheese. But what makes these tacos so unique and highly sought after is the salsas, available in both red and green varieties, with secret recipes undoubtedly influenced by Doña Lupita’s childhood in Zamora, Michoacán. All she and her now extended family, who help her serve up to 1,000 tacos a day, will divulge is that the ingredients are all fresh.
So these tacos aren’t exactly nothing, proving Shakespeare’s point. Although their price of 8 pesos apiece is about as close to it as you’re likely to find.
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.
