The steady increase in cases has prompted health experts in the country to urge the public to resume wearing masks. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Mexico is on several “top 5” lists nobody wants to be on.
On Tuesday, the WHO released its latest COVID-19 Epidemiological Update studying the 28-day period ending on July 21, 2024. Mexico is No. 5 in test positivity rate globally, No. 5 in new ICU admissions and it remains fifth in total number of COVID-related deaths.
Mexico saw new cases increase by more than 50% between June 24 and July 21. (WHO)
The steady increase in cases has prompted health experts in the country to urge the public to resume wearing masks.
The WHO’s report reveals that 31% of the 85 participating countries reported elevated SARS-CoV-2 activity. Elevated activity is defined as anything above a 10% test positivity rate.
Mexico is fifth on this list after seeing a 37% test positivity rate during the most recent 28-day period. This number trails only the Republic of Moldova (75%), Belgium (67%), Switzerland (40%) and Spain (39.3%).
Mexico was among eight Latin American countries that saw new cases increase by more than 50% during the latest reporting period.
The WHO also revealed that among the 40 countries consistently reporting new hospitalizations, 21 registered an increase of 20% or greater in hospitalizations during the past 28 days compared to the previous 28-day period. Mexico is eighth on this list as new hospitalizations rose from 243 to 606 patients.
Among the 28 countries consistently reporting new ICU admissions, seven countries showed an increase of 20% or greater in new ICU admissions. Mexico is fifth on that list, too, with an increase greater than 100% as ICU admissions rose from 11 during the May 27-June 23 period to 24 during June 24-July 21.
Mexico also reported 2,152 new COVID-19 cases during the most recent 28-day reporting period, the third-most in the Americas behind only Colombia (2,892) and Canada (2,191). The 2,152 new cases were significantly higher than the 653 new cases reported during the May 27-June 23 period.
Mexico also ranks fifth in the world in total number of COVID-related deaths with 334,958 victims. Only the United States (1,219,487), Brazil (711,380), India (533,570) and Russia (402,756) have seen more COVID-related deaths than Mexico.
Claudia Sheinbaum will give morning press conferences on weekdays starting at 7 a.m. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)
There will be no sleeping in on weekdays for Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo.
The president-elect announced Monday that she will follow in the footsteps of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and hold 7 a.m. press conferences at the National Palace once she has assumed the nation’s top job.
Soon it will be Sheinbaum at the presidential podium. (Cuartoscuro)
“You’ll have to wake up early,” she told reporters at a presser that began at the decidedly friendlier time of midday.
Sheinbaum, who will be sworn in as Mexico’s first female president on Oct. 1, said that she will preside over security cabinet meetings at 6 a.m. before holding her mañaneras — as AMLO’s morning press conferences are colloquially known — at 7 a.m.
“I know that our adversaries are going to say that it’s the same [as López Obrador], but it organizes the day a lot,” she said.
“You start [the day] very early, have the [media] briefing, then devote yourself to meetings on the progress of the different projects,” said Sheinbaum, who won a comprehensive victory in the June 2 presidential election as the candidate for the ruling Morena party.
The president-elect said she was discussing with her husband whether they would live in the National Palace in the historic center of Mexico City, as López Obrador and his wife do.
Her announcement that she will hold weekday morning press conferences came after she revealed earlier this month that 33% of respondents to a survey she commissioned said they wanted her to face the media on a daily basis, making that frequency the most popular. Just over 45% of 1,200 people polled said they wanted to begin the pressers at 7 a.m.
On Monday, Sheinbaum also told reporters that she will travel to different parts of the country on weekends to “work with governors and inspect the actions, infrastructure projects and other things we’re going to carry out.”
In that respect, she will also emulate López Obrador, who has traveled widely within Mexico during his six-year term, but seldom left the country.
AMLO uses his daily mañaneras to wax lyrical about government projects and policies; attack political opponents, past presidents and the press; extol the wisdom of the majority of the Mexican people (read: his supporters); and provide Mexican history lessons, among other objectives.
He thus exerts considerable influence over the daily news cycle in Mexico.
Federal and state officials, including the occasional opposition politician, also speak at the pressers, usually before López Obrador engages directly with reporters.
The president on Tuesday acknowledged Sheinbaum’s decision to continue with the 6 a.m. security meetings and 7 a.m. pressers he initiated, and declared he is “very proud of the president-elect and soon-to-be constitutional president.”
“It’s truly a historic event. We’re living a stellar moment in the history of Mexico, it’s something exceptional and we’re very happy,” López Obrador said.
Lydia Cacho, left, is an investigative journalist who exposed a Cancún child sex trafficking ring in her book, "The Demons of Eden." The book alleged the involvement in the ring of businessman Kamel Nacif Borge, an associate of ex-Puebla governor Mario Marin, right. Prosecutors believe Marin had Cacho tortured on Nacif's behalf. (Cuartoscuro)
Three and a half years after he was arrested in connection with the 2005 detention and torture of investigative journalist Lydia Cacho, former governor of Puebla Mario Marín was released from prison and allowed to go into house arrest pending trial.
A Cancún-based judge ruled on Saturday that the charges the 70-year-old ex-governor faces — torture and protection of a child-trafficking ring — don’t warrant his pretrial detention.
Marín will await his trial under house arrest in this modest-looking home in Puebla city, according to the conditions of his release. (Mireya Novo/Cuartoscuro)
Marín, Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) governor of Puebla between 2005 and 2011, reportedly arrived at his home in Puebla City on Monday after his release from the “Altiplano” federal maximum security prison in México state.
Cacho’s arrest came after she wrote a book published in 2005 called “The Demons of Eden,” in which she exposed a pedophilia ring in Cancún that she alleged was run by businessman Jean Succar Kuri. He was later convicted of the crime and sentenced to more than 100 years in jail.
Cacho also implicated Kamel Nacif Borge, a businessman known as “El rey de la mezclilla” (the denim king) for his large textile empire, and he subsequently filed a defamation complaint against her that led to her arrest.
After Cacho was detained in Cancún, police drove her more than 20 hours to Puebla, during which time they taunted and tortured her, threatened her with rape, forced a gun into her mouth and debated drowning her in the Gulf of Mexico’s Campeche Bay. She was held in custody in Puebla for two days before being released on bail.
The case became a national scandal when a tape was leaked of a conversation between Nacif and Marín in which the former is heard thanking the latter for arresting Cacho.
🆘En este momento estamos en audiencia, la Jueza Angélica del Carmen Ortuño Suárez nos ha dicho que va a liberar a #MarioMarín que no amerita prisión preventiva por su delito de tortura y protección de redes de trata infantil. @NormaPinaH#Torturapic.twitter.com/pca5dkGZSl
Cacho’s post on Twitter decrying the court decision to free Marín from pretrial detention, which Marin has been serving since his 2021 arrest in Acapulco.
Cacho attended the court hearing in Cancún on Saturday via video link and announced on the X social media platform that Judge Angélica del Carmen Ortuño Suárez had decided to release Marín from preventive detention.
Cacho, a Mexico City native who fled Mexico in 2019 shortly after thieves broke into her home, accused the judge of “protecting the rights of torturers and violating mine” and “throwing overboard” efforts to capture the ex-governor during a period of 15 years.
“Mario Marín hasn’t been exonerated, but he is a dangerous prisoner for me, for my witnesses and my family,” she wrote on X.
“I hold the judge … responsible for anything that might happen to my legal team that was at the hearing today, or to any of us,” Cacho said.
“The judge … is imposing a fine of just 100,000 pesos (on a governor who has a chalet in Switzerland). She is releasing him right on the home stretch when we were expecting a tough sentence for torture. That is the power of the ex-governor of Puebla within the judicial power,” she added.
“… We’ve proven in international tribunals his links to networks … [involved in] the trafficking of girls. Criminal networks are pulling strings within the judicial power. This is the mafioso judicial power,” Cacho said in another post.
Araceli Andrade, a lawyer for Cacho, told reporters that Marín would be required to wear an ankle monitor and would be stripped of his passport, but she nevertheless expressed concern that the former governor could escape house arrest and go into hiding within Mexico.
“He has the money, the power and the influence to avoid justice,” she said.
Andrade said she would file an appeal against the judge’s decision this Wednesday.
Businessman Jean Succar Kuri in 2010 being brought to a jail in Cancún. Succar was sentenced to more than 100 years in prison for running the child-trafficking ring Cacho exposed. (Amaranta Prieto/Cuartoscuro)
“Mario Marín is now sleeping at his home, while Lydia Cacho hasn’t set foot in Mexico for years. … The sense of justice no longer makes sense,” she said Monday.
AMLO and Sheinbaum criticize decision to release Marín
At his morning press conference on Monday, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador described the decision to release the former governor as “another sabadazo.”
Sabadazo is a colloquial Mexican term used to refer to a decision made on a Saturday (sábado), perhaps in an attempt to avoid or lessen scrutiny and media coverage.
López Obrador — a frequent critic of Mexico’s judiciary — accused opposition parties and judges of “protecting” Marín, who was arrested during his presidency.
“And do you know why they protected him? Because Mr. Marín helped them with the electoral fraud in 2006,” he said, referring to his claim that his narrow loss to Felipe Calderón in the presidential election held that year was illegitimate.
President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum echoed the words of her political mentor by also calling the decision to allow the former governor to await trial at home a “sabadazo.”
Both President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum criticized the decision to grant Marín house arrest, saying it was an example of why it was necessary to support a controversial judicial reform bill first proposed by current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)
The decision, she added, provides another reason to “change the judicial power.”
Sheinbaum supports a controversial judicial reform proposal López Obrador sent to Congress in February. If it is approved, citizens will be able to directly elect Supreme Court justices and other judges from candidates put forth by the president of the day.
The value of Mexico’s food exports grew by 4.2% in 2023, sending it from ninth place to seventh on the list of the world's top food exporters. (SADER/Twitter)
Mexico is now the seventh largest food exporter in the world, with sales abroad — most of which go to the United States — exceeding US $50 billion in 2023.
The value of Mexico’s food exports grew by 4.2% last year, allowing the country to leap-frog Argentina and India — both of whom suffered from drought and fell out of the top 10.
According to Mexico’s National Fish and Agriculture Council, the nation’s fish and agriculture sector produces more revenues than Mexico’s petroleum industry. According to Agriculture Secretary Victor Villalobos, agri-food production will surpass 300 million tonnes in 2024. (Mexican government)
Between 2022 and 2023, Mexico climbed from ninth place to seventh.
Juan Cortina Gallardo, president of Mexico’s National Fish and Agriculture Council, said that the country’s fish and agriculture sector produces Mexico’s third highest revenues, behind only tourism and foreign direct investment but ahead of the petroleum industry.
“We are now the No. 3 producer of food in Latin America and No. 11 in agricultural production in the world,” Cortina said at Mexico’s 2nd Congress on Health and Agri-Food Safety last week.
At the same event, Agriculture Secretary Víctor Villalobos Arámbula said that Mexico’s agri-food production increased from 285 million tonnes in 2017 to 298 million tonnes last year.
“We will certainly surpass 300 million tonnes of production this year,” he said.
Villalobos added that Mexico’s agri-food trade numbers have risen from US $63 billion to US $96 billion in that same time frame.
Most of Mexico’s food exports are sold to the United States. (Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock)
“Our country has become a production and export power in healthy and reliable foodstuffs,” he said.
Villalobos credited the work done by Senasica, the government agency that protects agricultural, aquacultural and livestock resources from pests and diseases, and its collaboration with producers and experts.
“Mexico is now free of roughly 1,000 of the more than 1,200 pests and diseases, placing us among the top eight countries in the world with regard to zoosanitary standards,” he said.
What does Mexico export?
Mexico’s top agri-food export is beer, with suds sales surpassing US $5.8 billion in 2023.
Beer is followed by tequila and other alcoholic spirits (US $4.3 billion), breads (US $2.6 billion), water, soft drinks and other nonalcoholic beverages except for juices (US $1.1 billion)
Mexico also annually exports fruits and nuts, to the tune of US $820 million, as well as fruit juices (US $590 million) and prepared foods (US $540 million).
Mexican-British national Manuel Guerrero spent six months in detention in Qatar.
Manuel Guerrero Aviña, a 44-year-old Mexican-British national, has left Qatar permanently after a harrowing six-month detention that highlighted the severe challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in the Gulf nation.
Guerrero, who had lived in Doha for seven years while working for Qatar Airways, was arrested on Feb. 4 in what his family described as a “honey trap” operation involving dating app Grindr.
On the eve of #IDAHOBIT2024, we rallied at the @FCDOGovUK to show our support for Manuel Guerrero, the British citizen living with HIV arrested in #Qatar.
— National AIDS Trust (@NAT_AIDS_Trust) May 17, 2024
Guerrero’s arrest by Qatari authorities prompted criticism and protests by Amnesty International and various human rights groups. In May, Guerrero’s brother Enrique Guerrero spoke at a rally to support Guerrero held outside London government offices.
Arrested by Qatar plainclothes security forces after arranging to meet a man via Grindr, the former Mexico City resident was eventually accused of drug possession and other drug-related charges.
His family insisted that the drugs were planted on him by Qatari authorities who had targeted his LGBTQ+ orientation.
Amnesty International, along with other human rights organizations, condemned the proceedings as grossly unfair, noting that Guerrero was held for weeks without charge, denied legal representation and coerced into signing — without the aid of a translator — a confession written in Arabic — a language he does not understand.
His family said he was threatened with physical abuse if he did not sign and that he was placed in solitary confinement and forced to beg for food.
He was also denied essential HIV medication for at least a month, putting his health at significant risk, his family said.
According to his family, while in custody, Guerrero was tortured, humiliated and pressured to name other LGBTQ+ individuals that he knew of in Qatar. (Gofundme.com)
“Qatar has used this case to stigmatize and criminalize LGBTQ individuals, and Manuel’s treatment in custody was utterly horrific,” he added.
Human Rights Watch documented six cases of severe and repeated beatings and five cases of sexual harassment in Qatar of individuals who were in police custody between 2019 and 2022 solely based on the individuals’ gender expression.
During his detention, Guerrero’s family in Mexico, along with the Manuel Guerrero Committee, worked tirelessly to secure his freedom, rallying support from both Mexican and British diplomatic channels.
Mexican diplomatic staff in Doha visited Guerrero to provide him with a translator, to facilitate his access to medication and to connect him with a lawyer. He also met with his family in Qatar on Feb. 11 and twice again in March.
On March 5, a demonstration seeking Guerrero’s freedom was held at the British Embassy in Mexico City.
From 1998 to 2011, Guerrero worked in Mexico City for American Express, Lufthansa, American Airlines and Aeroméxico before becoming a flight attendant for British Airways, according to his LinkedIn page. He had worked for Qatar Airways at their headquarters in Doha since early 2017.
Mexican and British diplomatic personnel helped him complete the formalities of his release, after which he met with Ambassador Guillermo Ordorica Robles at the Mexican Embassy in Doha.
According to the SRE, Guerrero “expressed his appreciation to the Government of Mexico for the various efforts made during his legal process.”
On Aug. 1, a Qatari judge upheld Guerrero’s six-month suspended sentence and a fine of 10,000 Qatari riyals (52,170 Mexican pesos, or US $2,750) and ordered Guerrero’s deportation.
He had received a sentence in June that gave him the possibility of leaving Qatar after paying a fine.
Guanajuato Governor Diego Sinhue marks the commencement of a US $150-million Sinoboom plant in Silao. (Ramon Alfaro/X)
Mexico continues to attract investors, though slightly behind the pace it set in 2023.
On Monday, the Economy Ministry (SE) reported US $48.3 billion in announced investments from foreign and domestic companies through July. Though significant, this figure represents a slowdown after companies made 52 investment announcements totaling US $25.84 billion between Jan. 1 and Feb. 29.
Heavy vehicle manufacturer Foton is among the companies that have announced investments in Mexico during 2024. (Magazzine de Transporte/X)
Still, when added to the US $110.7 billion in announced investment last year, Mexico is on pace to exceed US $190 billion in expected investment for the 2023 and 2024 calendar years.
The 166 investment announcements through July are expected to generate more than 75,000 jobs, according to the SE.
Approximately 53% of total announced investments (US $25.4 billion) are destined for the manufacturing sector, particularly the production of drinks (41%), automobiles (15%), auto parts (15%), iron and steel (10%) and electric components (2%).
Latest investment announcements in Mexico
On Monday, Artistic Milliners (AM) announced it would be investing 700 million pesos (US $36.7 million) to build a factory in the state of Coahuila.
This comes just one week after AM — established in Pakistan in 1949 and now one of the top denim manufacturers in the world — acquired a 10-acre, two-building complex from Dickies in Parras, Coahuila. The twin investments will allow AM to rapidly build out its Mexico operations over the next six months.
AM says it will hire 700 employees once the factories are operational, and expects to hire 1,500 people within a year while projecting that 3,000 jobs could eventually be created.
Coahuila Governor Manolo Jiménez Salinas reminded reporters that the textile industry has had a foothold in Parras for more than 100 years. “It is guaranteed that the products made here will be the best quality,” he said, adding that new investment announcements would be forthcoming.
Last week in the state of Guanajuato, Sinoboom formally launched its new US $150 million manufacturing project with a groundbreaking ceremony in the city of Silao.
Sinoboom — based in Changsha, China — makes a wide variety of boom lifts and heavy construction machinery. The company anticipates hiring 700 employees once production starts in the middle of 2025.
The Silao facility will produce slab and rough-terrain scissor lifts, articulating and telescopic boom lifts, as well as other products from the Sinoboom range. It is estimated that by 2028 the annual output will reach 20,000 units.
Chinese automakers Chirey, BYD, MG and Great Wall Motors have all announced plans to build plants in Mexico — but none have started construction. (Chirey Río San Joaquin)
Chinese automaker reiterates plans to manufacture in Mexico
Auto manufacturer Chirey is one of four Chinese car manufacturers to announce plans to manufacture automobiles in Mexico, doing so in July 2022. On Sunday, the newspaper El Economista reported that company executives continue to visit potential sites for the plant, though a decision is unlikely before January 2025.
Stiff competition and U.S. threats to prevent Chinese-made vehicles from entering its market have not deterred Chinese manufacturers from making promises in Mexico.
Expansión magazine has pointed out that MG Motor, BYD, Great Wall Motors and Chirey have each announced plans to manufacture cars in Mexico, but have yet to build any plants.
When questioned by El Economista this week, Chirey officials declared they remain 100% committed to building a factory in Mexico.
The limestone mural contains 123 hieroglyphics arranged in quadrants that shed new light on ancient Maya history and culture on the Yucatán Peninsula. (INAH)
Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have unearthed a newly discovered Maya stela in the Cobá archaeological zone in Quintana Roo bearing extensive hieroglyphics describing the founding of a Maya city.
The finding is one of the most “remarkable discoveries” the institute has made during the construction work of the Maya Train, head of the INAH Diego Prieto Hernández told reporters on Tuesday during President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s morning press conference.
The Maya hieroglyphics were found near the Nohoch Mul pyramid, one of the Yucatán Peninsula’s tallest pyramids, and one of the most popular with visitors. (INAH)
Located near the popular Nohoch Mul, one of the tallest pyramids on the Yucatán Peninsula, the stela is over 11 meters long and contains 123 carved hieroglyphics arranged in quadrants. According to INAH’s preliminary analysis, the hieroglyphics appear to describe the founding of the Maya settlement of Keh Witz Nal (Deer Mountain) on May 12, A.D. 569.
The inscriptions also reveal the name of a previously unknown ruler, K’awiil Ch’ak Chéen, filling a gap in archaeologists’ knowledge about the dynastic sequence of Cobá.
Cobá is an ancient Maya city in Quintana Roo that contains many engraved and sculpted stelae that document ceremonial life and important events of the Late Classic Period (AD 600–900) of the Mayan civilization.
According to Prieto, the newly discovered stela sheds more light on the ancient Maya’s worldview and ritual practices.It confirmed, for instance, that many of the region’s rulers adopted the name of the god K’awiil, believing it conferred upon them the attributes of the protective deity that the Maya associated with meteorological phenomena and abundant harvests.
To restore and protect the artifact—which was found covered with salt, weeds and soil—archeologists have injected lime mortar into it to reinforce the stela’s interior, which had developed external holes due to stagnant water collecting on it during rainy seasons. Researchers also have made a high-precision record of the hieroglyphics to create 3-D models of the artifact that will aid in further investigation.
El hallazgo de estela en Cobá es “uno de los más notables” en la ruta del Tren Maya: INAH
See INAH researchers working at the site of the stela’s discovery at the Cobá archeological zone.
In recent years, construction work on the government’s Maya Train — the tourist train that runs through the southern states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo — has uncovered several ancient Maya artifacts, which Prieto called “the greatest archaeological treasure” of the last few decades.
Many of the discoveries made along the train route are now exhibited in the new Gran Museo Maya de Chichén Itzá(Chichén Itzá Maya Museum).
It's rained at last. What now? (Bomberos de Guadalajara/Cuartoscuro)
Mexico and water often don’t seem to go in the same sentence. Remember that one time when I wrote abouthow desperate I was (we were) for rainfall?
Friends, Tlaloc is good. He has provided.
Big man Tlaloc delivers at last. Boy, are we glad to see him. (PurpleVines/Reddit)
A lot.
So much, in fact, that plenty of us have found ourselves with more water than we know what to do with around here. Not coming from our taps, mind you. Just, you know, like in general.
The water crisis is, of course, no joking matter. And for now, we’ve managed to stave off crisis.
I don’t know how things went down in other communities, but in Xalapa, things got bad. There were colonias that went weeks without water during the drought, and regular protests as a result of this frequently shut down major roads. Plants died, and nearby forest fires, unheard of previously, raged. We even had a couple of scary situations where neighboring communities turned off the tap to Xalapa’s supply. Quick negotiations between local civil servants and outside protestors saved the day twice. Thank goodness!
Teetering on the Edge
We were desperate for rain, but even with this recent downpour, Mexico is facing serious water issues. (Michael Balam/Cuartoscuro)
“We’re one week without water away from total societal collapse,” a friend wrote to me. I keep thinking about those words.
Dramatic, but true. Oof. What would the next steps in the protests have been? Attacks on presumed industrial hoarders of water like Coca-Cola and Nestle? (I actually did side-eye Coca-Cola quite a bit during this time. Suddenly there were no Ciel garrafones in the convenience stores, but magically, pricier-per-milliliter Coke was never not in stock. Ciel is under the Coca-Cola umbrella.)
Thankfully, crisis was averted, right in the nick of time. We’ve now been blessed with a very rainy rainy season this year.
Ironically, this hasn’t meant that things have gotten easier for everyone. For one, lots and lots of placesflood these days. The reasons are myriad and very obviously include copious amounts of water falling from the sky in a short time.
Concrete Jungles: Not a Fantastic Strategy
Some say that living like this is not the best way to combat climate change. Some say. (Ayuntamiento de Nezahualcóyotl)
But covering such a great expanse of our communities in concrete certainly hasn’t helped. It’s not just that excess water has nowhere to go so ends up in some of our living rooms rather than our pipes. Aquifers under concrete can’t be replenished too quickly if the water that falls has nowhere to filter through.
I mean, concrete is porous (check out the salitre on our walls), but it’s not that porous. Hence, places like Mexico City are facing the prospect of running out of waterin our lifetimes. No bueno.
So, we need to figure out a plan for holding on to all this excess water falling into the city.
Our current plan seems to be insisting on a Goldilocks situation when it comes to water. We can’t have too much, and we can’t have too little.
Let’s hope the incoming president has a solution for us – she is a climate scientist after all. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
How’s this working out for us?
Well, not great.
So what can we do?
Other than our part in trying to generally slow down climate change, we need some major infrastructure updates. Sheinbaum says shehas a plan, but will it be enough?
Well, we’ll find out. In the meantime, there are people and organizations doing what they can, as well. Some are determined to plant morecloud forests. Others are devising cheap, community-ledsystems for clean drinking water.
I don’t think we’ll all be heading out with sledgehammers to tear up the concrete any time soon. But leaving the natural areas we have alone would be a great start.
Water catchment systemsare another area I hope will become “big business” around here. There seem to be a few smallish organizations out there, but boy do we need more! If the government could subsidize it the way they do electricity, we could really make some headway.
Plus, who doesn’t want to stop depending on municipal water when there’s so much time it’s falling for free all around us? Tandas are for the birds.
The catchphrase in Mexico is Cuida el agua (“take care of the water”), which always makes me imagine people petting it lovingly. If we can get past this water crisis, I will be petting it lovingly! Especially if it’s water that I “caught” and was able to put to use myself.
Calleja has an electrical engineering degree from the Technological Institute of Celaya and a master's in management from the Autonomous University of Coahuila. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum announced on Monday that Emilia Esther Calleja Alor will lead the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) during her six-year term of government, a key post in an administration that will seek to accelerate the energy transition.
Calleja, an electrical engineer and two-decade veteran of the state-owned electricity company, will become the first female general director of the CFE once Sheinbaum’s presidency starts on Oct. 1.
Sheinbaum with Emilia Esther Calleja and Luz Elena González, incoming energy minister. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
She will replace Manuel Bartlett, an 88-year-old former governor of Puebla and federal interior minister.
At a press conference on Monday, Sheinbaum noted that Calleja will become the first woman to head up the CFE and highlighted that she is “an engineer who comes from below.”
“She grew up in the CFE, and she is a woman who loves the Federal Electricity Commission,” she said.
“She knows the subject, and as you will see she has an enormous capacity for leadership,” Sheinbaum said.
Calleja has held a variety of roles during a 21-year career at the CFE, including superintendent of a thermal power station, head of the company’s “analysis and results” department and director of chemical and environmental operations at the firm’s National Training Center in Celaya, Guanajuato.
Calleja has held many positions during her 21-year career at the CFE. (@CFEmx/X)
She also worked as a manager on a power plant construction project during a career in which she has been a trailblazer for women in an industry dominated by men.
The newspaper Reforma reported that Calleja’s appointment as the next CFE director was “well-received” in the sector, with electricity industry experts highlighting her experience and technical knowledge.
In a short address, Calleja described her appointment as “an extremely high honor” and pledged to “continue the legacy and work” of the current government.
“As we are well aware, [the government] rescued the CFE and defended Mexico’s energy sovereignty. We will continue to strengthen the CFE’s 54% participation in national [electricity] generation, promote its growth and guarantee that electricity reaches all homes at accessible prices,” she said.
Calleja also pledged to promote the “efficient use” of electricity and “the energy transition.”
Sheinbaum has promised to spend more than US $13 billion on a renewables-focused energy plan, asserting in April that a government she leads would invest in solar, wind, hydro and geothermal projects.
The plan she outlined represents a significant shift away from the current government’s fossil fuel-focused strategy, but Sheinbaum has also committed to moving ahead with gas-burning power plant projects that are already under construction or have been planned.
Among the key challenges for Calleja will be to ensure that the CFE generates enough energy to meet demand. A majority of Mexico’s states were affected by blackouts earlier this year when demand for electricity spiked as temperatures soared across much of the country.
Mexico’s capacity to take full advantage of the nearshoring opportunity also hinges, in part, on its ability to generate enough energy — including renewable energy — to meet the needs of industry.
Sheinbaum has promised to spend more than US $13 billion on a renewables-focused energy plan. (CFE Nacional)
The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) said in a report in February that “making the most out of nearshoring requires shifting to renewables.”
“With global manufacturing activity increasingly seeking to decarbonize its production processes, Mexico’s abundant renewable energy resources could be a substantial competitive advantage,” the OECD said.
“However, the share of electricity generated from renewable sources remains low [at around 10%], it added.
Calleja will join other powerful women in Sheinbaum’s cabinet
Calleja, who has an electrical engineering degree from the Technological Institute of Celaya and a master’s in management from the Autonomous University of Coahuila, will be among several women to hold key positions in the next federal government.
Sheinbaum, who will become Mexico’s first female president when she is sworn in on Oct. 1, has already named current Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez as her interior minister; former Mexico City official Luz Elena González Escobar as her energy minister; and current Foreign Affairs Minister Alicia Bárcena as her environment minister.
Calleja will be part of Sheinbaum’s expanded cabinet, which includes the heads of various government agencies and state-owned companies.
The president-elect has not yet named who will lead the state oil company Pemex during the next six years, or who will head up the army and navy, positions whose power has increased over the past six years as President Andrés Manuel López Obrador relied heavily on the military for public security and a broad range of other non-traditional tasks.
Where other than Mexico would you expect to see a Guinness World Record event for tacos? (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)
Tlaxcala, a tiny state in central Mexico, has won a Guinness World Record for serving the greatest variety of tacos de canasta (basket tacos) in one place.
The state gathered over 150 taqueros (taco makers) from the municipality of Natívitas, Tlaxcala, to serve 186 varieties of tacos during a Sunday event held along the Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City.
A total of 30,000 tacos were served on Sunday as the state strove to set the record for greatest variety of tacos served in one place. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)
The tacos featured traditional fillings like papa (potatoes), chicharrón (pressed pork rinds) and green mole, as well as nontraditional flavor combinations like frijoles with cranberries and walnuts.
A total of 30,000 tacos — free of charge — were served to passersby in under 30 minutes.
Tlaxcala Governor Lorena Cuéllar Cisneros shared on social media that the event earned the state a second Guinness World Record. The state’s first award came in August 2022 — for the longest sawdust carpet in the world. This tradition is part of the festivities known as the Night When No One Sleeps, in the municipality of Huamantla.
Marte Molina, a local official from the Tourism Ministry (Sectur), told the news agency Latinus that the tacos de canasta have created a sense of community and identity for Tlaxcala. By Molina’s estimate, eight out of 10 residents in Natívitas have had some level of involvement in the basket tacos economy since 1940.
What is a taco de canasta?
According to the newspaper El Universal, the taco de canasta dates back to the early 1900s, created to be an accessible meal for low-income families and peasants. Unlike other tacos which are filled with meat, basket tacos are smaller and are typically filled with potatoes and beans.
Tacos de canasta, or basket tacos, are typically filled with potatoes and beans. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)
After the Mexican Revolution, the consumption of tacos de canasta grew amongst all strata of society. In 1950, a taquero in the municipality of San Vicente Xiloxochitla, Tlaxcala, reportedly began selling tacos out of a basket on his bicycle. The ease of transport and the few ingredients required for their preparation inspired others to migrate to Mexico City and sell tacos from a basket on a bicycle.
Today, tacos de canasta are some of the most popular, affordable and easy-to-find street food in Mexico.
