The Mexican dorado fish, also known as mahi mahi, is not legal for commercial fishing, but fishers are allowed some dorado bycatch when looking for other fish. This creates a legal gray area that leads to de facto commercial fishing. (NOAA Fisheries)
Also known as mahi mahi or dolphinfish, the average dorado is a meter-long package of muscle and puts up a hard fight once hooked, making it a prized trophy catch for sport fishers.
Foodies and restaurateurs love its sweet, mild meat — easily available and firm enough for a wide range of recipes. The sought-after fish is often present year-round in the Mexican Pacific. It matures quickly and spawns prolifically, producing millions of eggs a year.
Dorado is legally categorized as a sport fish in Mexico. (Distad/Wikimedia Commons)
For those and other reasons, dorado is an “excellent candidate” for commercial fishing, according to fishery biologist Dr. Fernando Márquez-Farías of the Sinaloa Autonomous University (UAS).
In fact, the United States and half a dozen Central and South American countries already have commercial dorado fisheries, mostly on the Pacific coast, where dorado are more common.
But for the time being, most dorado fishing in Mexico exists in legal gray areas, making it a prime example of what is known as IUU fishing — an acronym that stands for illegal, unreported and unregulated.
IUU fishing is “one of the greatest threats to marine ecosystems due to its potent ability to undermine national and regional efforts to manage fisheries sustainably” and “can lead to the collapse of local fisheries, with small-scale fisheries in developing countries proving particularly vulnerable,” according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
Experts say the industrial bycatch of dorado, or when fishing boats unintentionally catch dorado while fishing for other species, is underreported and poses an overfishing threat. (Wikimedia Commons)
Under Mexican law, dorado is technically reserved for sport fishing. But it can also be caught as bycatch in fishing operations that aim for other species. This opens a loophole the size of Baja California itself. A patchwork of laws establishes the percentage of bycatch allowed for different locations and for different species.
Industrial fleets targeting fish like tuna and sardines are expected to report the number and weight of dorado bycatch to Conapesca, the Mexican government agency that regulates fishing. But there’s little oversight, and experts interviewed for this article agreed that industrial bycatch is likely massively underreported.
For small fishers, dorado can offer economic stability when other species are out of season. One Mazatlán fisher said that dorado fishing was allowed under his general commercial fishing permit.
But he and another fisher in Escuinapa, Sinaloa, both said that when fishing dorado, they avoided government patrol boats or threw the fish overboard as a last resort. Both spoke on condition of anonymity.
So how much dorado is fished in Mexico? Industrial bycatch reports may not be reliable, and small fishers certainly aren’t telling the government how much fish they catch illegally. Without reliable numbers, it’s difficult for scientists and regulatory authorities to know if dorado populations are thriving or struggling.
Black and gray market dorado is fished around the country before being sold in markets, restaurants and even exported as “white fish.” (Wikimedia Commons)
Gllen Bercovich is a sport fishing captain in Baja California Sur, the president of the Los Cabos Union of Sport Fishing Vessel Owners. He’s advocated for keeping dorado fishing limited to sport fishers. He said that he has seen a noticeable decline in dorado in his area.
“It’s been months without dorado,” he said. “In the past, it was [available] all year round. … It’s a little less in some months because the water gets a little colder, but we are realizing how the flow of dorado in this area is decreasing,”
Another of Sinaloa’s dorado fishers agreed there had been less dorado in recent years, though he felt they are still abundant.
“When we go to fish, we see a lot in the sea, ”he said. “… You can see [them] all over the place, jumping and eating.”
If the population is down, even a bit, it could be the standard ebb and flow of nature. Or it could be a sign that dorado, despite being a productive and fast-growing species, are starting to feel the pressure of illegal fishing, changing climate or other factors.
Figuring out what’s really going on is crucial to balancing the needs of small independent fishers, the bottom line of industrial fishing companies and the reality that there aren’t infinite fish in the sea.
Without reliable numbers, it’s difficult for scientists and regulatory authorities to know if dorado populations are thriving or struggling. (NOAA Fisheries)
Getting that information is the job of the National Fisheries Institute (Inapesca), the government institute responsible for fishery research, said Esteban García-Peña, fisheries campaign director for the ocean conservation organization Oceana.
“We need the scientific authority, which is Inapesca, to investigate or update the information on dorado to know how things are now,” he said.
Climatological events like hurricanes, El Niño and La Niña have “surely changed the dorado population and stocks” since the last major update in 2004.
Márquez-Farías had a different take. As a former Inapesca researcher, he acknowledged that the agency hasn’t produced the data on fish stocks that is normally required before commercial fishing is allowed, despite having been awarded funding in the past for that specific purpose.
“In theory, you couldn’t open a fishery if the National Fisheries Institute hasn’t recommended it,” Márquez-Farías said.
But Conapesca calls the shots and could give out provisional monitoring permits, he said, allowing some small-scale fisheries to start benefiting from dorado fishing while scientists use the permitted boats’ fishing reports to start planning better species management.
Inapesca, the scientific authority responsible for fisheries research, has not updated its information on the dorado since 2004. (Wikimedia Commons)
But what if opening up a dorado fishery leads to even more out-of-control fishing? That’s what worries Enrique Fernández, president of the Mexican Foundation for Billfish Conservation, a group that advocates against commercial dorado fishing at the national level.
Fernández said legalizing commercial dorado fishing could reduce population numbers and hurt Mexicans in the sport fishing industry. What is actually needed, he said, is better enforcement of existing rules.
In Baja California Sur, for example, he said there are only eight fishing inspectors for 2,500 kilometers of coastline, far too few to be effective even before taking into account corruption and inefficiency.
There’s one thing the experts interviewed for this article all agreed on: the system meant to protect and manage dorado isn’t working as it should. Black- and gray-market dorado is sold in markets and restaurants and even, according to Fernández, is exported as “white fish.”
Current law makes tracing seafood back to its origin difficult, but consumers can still ask questions about where their seafood comes from, said García-Peña.
Also, sport fishers can ask a charter to see their fishing permits and registration to operate in Mexico, and anglers should thoroughly research the species they hope to fish, García-Peña said. Information on catch limits is available online, and the National Fisheries Chart (Carta Nacional Pesquera) has more detailed information (in Spanish).
As small fishers hide from patrol boats and industrial fishers undercount their bycatch, Mexico’s dorado are soldiering on. Are they thriving? Struggling? Somewhere in the middle?
As long as commercial dorado fishing remains in the shadows, it’s anyone’s guess.
Mexico is already a leader in automotive manufacturing, with companies like BMW and Nissan well established in the country and increasing their investments as nearshoring heats up. (BMW Group)
I am a child of the NAFTA generation. I first came to Mexico during my junior year in college – a business student motivated and inspired by the promise of a free trade agreement that would bring new opportunities. While other students went off to study in Barcelona or Madrid, I chose Guadalajara, Mexico. I wanted to learn everything I could about the country.
After graduation, I interviewed for a Wisconsin-based company interested in doing manufacturing in the United States and Mexico for export around the world. They sent me, a 21 year-old kid, to Mexico City for an interview.
President Bill Clinton signs supplemental agreements to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993. (Wikimedia Commons)
I remember the lunch interview in Polanco at a fancy restaurant, and being put up in a hotel on Reforma Avenue. I could not have been more excited! The company hired me and for years, times were very good. The company invested in manufacturing and talent in both Mexico and the United States and we were competitive, successful, and sold our products around the world.
But then, we started feeling competitive pressure from companies in China, who offered impossible prices and incredible production turnaround times. The company went to Asia, first to Taiwan and trade shows in Hong Kong, but ultimately to China. A few initial exploratory trips turned into me traveling over 50 times during a six-year period as we relocated manufacturing out there, out of the US and Mexico.
The allure of such low costs, flexibility and lightning-fast production made the decision to move to China hard to resist. It seemed like everything there was possible – it was a manufacturer’s dream.
We all know how this story has turned out. Nearly every manufacturer around the globe did the same thing for years, but then things began to shift. China started to become more expensive. China demonstrated a complete lack of intellectual property protection that resulted in many companies finding competitors popping up almost overnight with an identical product at a much lower price. China started to lose appeal.
Ironically, it was the administration of U.S. President Trump that pushed through two initiatives that began to change the balance of business power from China to Mexico: tariffs on China, and the updated US-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) free trade agreement. When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted supply chains around the world, there was even more incentive for companies to look elsewhere.
After losing investment to China for years, Mexico is now getting the business world’s attention again. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is at record levels and the investment is coming in from around the world. Companies from Germany, France, Italy, and The Netherlands lead the investment from Europe while China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and India lead the investment from Asia.
Companies from the U.S. and Canada are more active than ever. Perhaps most tellingly, China was listed second only to the U.S. for planned investments in Mexico this year, according to the Economy Ministry. In my opinion, Chinese companies see very clearly that a divided world is becoming a reality and they must have a second manufacturing base outside of China that allows them access to the U.S. market.
Some question Mexico’s ability to respond and react to this opportunity. My response is: no country is perfect for investment. The BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries, which were seen as rising stars, have lost some of their luster.
Nuevo León’s governor Samuel García on a recent trip to South Korea to meet with potential investors. (Samuel García/Twitter)
Europe is struggling with unpredictable energy costs, significant supply chain issues due to the war in Ukraine, and restrictive labor policies. The U.S. is clearly benefiting from the nearshoring boom with manufacturing returning to the country, but it also has low unemployment today, unpredictable immigration policies and increasingly high labor costs.
Mexico, the U.S. and Canada are in the midst of a once in a generation opportunity. If you aren’t in one of the big cities or manufacturing hubs of the country, it might be harder to see, but nearshoring to Mexico is real. A lot of good jobs are being created that provide a stable income, benefits, healthcare, and employee training. Jobs that provide a stepping stone into the middle class. Jobs that improve lives by keeping families together, instead of forcing one family member to go abroad to look for work. Jobs that pay taxes to governments that in turn can improve education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
I believe that the current nearshoring boom will result in significant benefits that will impact North America as a whole. We should embrace these potential benefits, and hold businesses and governments accountable to ensure that they in fact become reality.
It’s a great time for Mexico, and I personally couldn’t be more excited to see the world’s attention again on Mexico, almost 30 years after many first saw the promise of investing in this great country and its people.
Cocca, seen here during the 2-2 draw with Jamaica in the Concacaf Nations League, failed to bring success to the team. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) has fired head coach Diego Cocca after just four months and a mere seven games in charge of “El Tri”, as the Mexican men’s national soccer team is known.
The 51-year-old Argentine, who left as head coach of the Liga MX Tigres earlier this season, oversaw a disastrous term for the national team, winning just 3 games and suffering a humiliating 3-0 defeat by long-time rivals the United States on Thursday. His record of 3 losses, 3 draws and 1 defeat was enough to see him ousted by the FMF.
Jaime Lozano, a former Mexico player, and Under-23 coach, has been promoted to interim manager while the Federation undergoes significant restructuring. (FMF/Twitter)
Sporting Director Rodrigo Ares de Parga was also removed from his post, as part of an intensive restructure by the Federation.
“In the last week, I have found many deficiencies, in planning, logistics and leadership,” FMF president Juan Carlos Rodriguez said in a video statement on Monday.
“A game against the United States can be lost, there’s always that risk because this is football and the win can go one way or the other. What cannot be accepted was the way in which it happened,” he continued.
The appointment of Cocca and Ares de Parga was intended to represent a new dawn for Mexico after a disappointing 2022 World Cup performance, which saw “El Tri” eliminated in the group stages – and led to the departure of previous coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino.
The FMF named former Mexico Under-23 coach Jaime “Jimmy” Lozano as interim chief, while searching for a new coach.
The Mexico national team is currently ranked 15th in the world by FIFA, two places behind the United States.
Va por México is a coalition of three opposition parties to the ruling Morena Party: the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the National Action Party (PAN) and Democratic Revolution Party (PRD). (Pedro Anza/Cuartoscuro)
The presidential candidate for the opposition Va por México alliance will be chosen from a field of eight aspirants, according to a report by the newspaper Milenio.
The National Action Party (PAN), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) announced in January that they would select a common candidate to contest the presidential election on June 2, 2024.
Former PRI minister Claudia Ruiz Masseu is amongst those vying for the nomination from the PRI. (Claudia Ruiz Masseu/Twitter)
Each of the three parties will put forward two aspirants to participate in the Va por México selection process, while two additional hopefuls will be nominated by civil society, Milenio reported Monday.
The newspaper said that PRI sources with whom it spoke indicated that the plan was for each party to run a primary process to select two aspirants to contest the formal Va por México contest.
According to Milenio, the two PRI contenders will be chosen from a group of five people:
Senator Claudia Ruiz Massieu, a former PRI national president and cabinet minister in the 2012–18 government led by Enrique Peña Nieto.
Senator Beatriz Paredes, a former ambassador to Brazil who has also served as PRI national president.
Enrique de la Madrid, tourism minister in the Peña Nieto administration and son of former president Miguel de la Madrid.
José Ángel Gurría, a cabinet minister in the 1994-2000 government led by Ernesto Zedillo and secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development between 2006 and 2021.
Deputy Ildefenso Guajardo, economy minister in the Peña Nieto government.
Morena defector Lilly Téllez (center) is a frontrunner for a nomination. (Lilly Téllez/Twitter)
The PAN is slated to choose its two representatives from a field of aspirants that could include:
Deputy Santiago Creel, interior minister in the 2000-2006 government led by Vicente Fox.
Senator Lilly Téllez, who defected from the ruling Morena party to join the PAN’s congressional team in 2020.
Senator Xóchitl Gálvez, a former mayor of the Mexico City borough of Miguel Hidalgo.
Yucatán Governor Mauricio Vila, a former mayor of Mérida.
Chihuahua Governor Maru Campos, a former mayor of Chihuahua city.
The PRD has an easier job on its hands, Milenio reported, as Senator Miguel Ángel Mancera, a former mayor of Mexico City, and former Michoacán governor Silvano Aureoles are the only people within its ranks who have indicated they are interested in becoming the Va por México presidential candidate.
The former head of the Mexican Employers Federation, Gustavo Hoyos, businessman Claudio X. González and Gilberto Lozano, a leader of the National Anti-AMLO Front, are among the aspirants who could join the Va por México contest as representatives of civil society.
Once the eight aspirants have been decided, each contender would present their proposals on issues such as security, the economy, health and education at public forums and debates, Milenio said.
At a later date, Va por México is expected to hold a “free, secret and direct” vote open to citizens to select its candidate for the 2024 presidential election, the newspaper said.
Senator Miguel Ángel Mancera, a former mayor of Mexico City, is one of the PRD’s two nominees. (Miguel Ángel Mancera/Twitter)
PAN national president Marko Cortés said last week that each aspirant will have to seek donations from supporters to fund their campaigns. In contrast, the ruling Morena party has said it will fund the campaigns of each of its presidential aspirants to the tune of 5 million pesos (about US $292,000).
Va por México is expected to formally announce details of the process it will use to select its candidate next Monday. Milenio reported that the process wouldn’t start until September to ensure compliance with National Electoral Institute rules.
A Citizens Movement party candidate and independent hopefuls could also seek to contest the presidential election next year. Polls indicate that Morena is likely to win a second consecutive six-year term in government no matter whom the party puts forward as its candidate.
Claudia Sheinbaum, who stepped down as Mexico City mayor last Friday, and Marcelo Ebrard, who resigned as foreign affairs minister a week ago, are considered the leading contenders to secure Morena’s nomination in the contest to succeed President López Obrador, who will leave office on Oct. 1, 2024.
Labor Minister Luisa María Alcalde Luján has been named the new interior minister following the resignation of Adán Augusto López Hernández last week. (Luisa Alcalde/Twitter)
President López Obrador has named Labor Minister Luisa María Alcalde Luján as his new interior minister following the resignation of Adán Augusto López Hernández, who is seeking the ruling Morena party’s nomination for the 2024 presidential election.
Alcalde, a former congressional deputy who has been labor minister since the current government took office in December 2018, is set to assume the powerful interior minister role later this week.
Labor Minister Luisa María Alcalde has led Mexico through labor law reforms during her tenure. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
She will be just the second woman to hold the position after Olga Sánchez Cordero, who served in López Obrador’s cabinet between 2018 and 2021. Alcalde is already the youngest female cabinet minister in the history of modern Mexico, beginning her current position at the age of 31.
López Obrador told reporters at his Monday morning press conference that he expected Alcalde to assume the interior minister role in the middle of the week, explaining that she would consult with Deputy Interior Minister Alejandro Encinas – who is currently in charge of the Interior Ministry – on the transition.
“Luisa María Alcalde Luján is young; it’s very important to think about generational change, to give opportunities to young people,” he said.
“In addition, Luisa María is a lawyer and she was already a legislator,” López Obrador said, acknowledging his labor minister’s undergraduate and postgraduate studies in law.
Deputy Interior Minister Alejandro Encinas (left), has been the interim interior minister since Adán Augusto López Hernández (right) resigned on Friday. (Alejandro Encinas/Twitter)
He said that Alcalde has performed very well in her current role, noting that she played a pivotal role in negotiations that led to annual increases to the minimum wage during the current government. The president didn’t say who would succeed her as labor minister.
Alcalde said on Twitter that she “deeply” appreciated the trust López Obrador showed in her by naming her interior minister, a position generally considered the second most powerful in Mexican politics.
“It will be without a doubt the honor of my life to accompany him … in this final fundamental stage for the consolidation of the transformation,” she wrote.
According to the federal government, the Interior Ministry “takes care of the political development of the country and contributes to the management of relations between the federal executive power and other powers … and levels of government to promote harmonious coexistence, social peace, development and the well-being of Mexicans.”
López Hernández, who stepped down as governor of Tabasco in 2021 to become interior minister, resigned last Friday to focus on winning Morena’s candidacy for next year’s presidential election.
Around 30,000 people attended the boxing session in the Zócalo - an unofficial world record. (Galo Cañas/Cuartoscuro)
Mexico City’s Zócalo square played host to its latest massive event, as some 30,000 people attended a free boxing class on Saturday – setting an unofficial new world record.
Coaching the class was legendary Mexican boxing champion Julio César Chávez, who led the crowd in the opening round. Former champions Irma “The Whirlwind” García, Erika “Dynamite” Cruz, and Ana María Torres also led sessions at the World Boxing Council-sanctioned event.
A host of Mexican boxing stars joined the coaching line up at the Zócalo. (Martí Batres/Twitter)
Chávez, who is 60 years old, is considered to be one of the greatest Mexican boxers of all time. He began the class by ringing a bell, warning the crowd “We will keep it simple, but hold tight, because I’m going to make sure you work.”
There were also messages of support for the participants from Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone – best known for his iconic role as battling boxer Rocky Balboa – and World Heavyweight Champions Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Evander Holyfield. Last year’s mass boxing class, which had an attendance of 14,299, was certified as a Guinness World Record, and that figure has been doubled this year. Since this year’s class was open to children as young as four years old and saw many participants in wheelchairs, the session was not eligible to take the official title again – though WBC President Mauricio Sulaimán said they would try for the record next year.
“The truth is that the number of people is impressive, it reminds me of the Azteca Stadium,” Chávez told Fox Sports. “I am happy and proud of all these young and not-so-young people who are here in the Zócalo.”
“Being around young people gives you energy, and they surround themselves with us, the older adults, since they see that we continue to give our best and we can inspire them,” José Luis Pérez, a 70-year-old attendee, told Reuters. Organizers say that the event will take place every year to help promote boxing and recreation in the city. Smaller events will take place in community centers across the capital on a more regular basis.
The photographer with his book on the Sierra Tarahumara. (All photos courtesy of Bob Schalkwijk)
Frida Kahlo’s diary, the aftermath of the destructive 1985 Mexico City earthquake, the Indigenous Tarahumara people and the 1968 Summer Olympics.
They are just a few of the vast array of subjects photographed by Dutch photographer Bob Schalkwijk during a long and illustrious career in Mexico.
Ocosingo, Chiapas (2004).
Schalkwijk – who was born in Rotterdam in 1933 – has tirelessly documented Mexican life for over six decades, taking countless uplifting, evocative, poignant and thought-provoking photos.
His impressive archive of personal and commercial work also includes photographs of architecture, art, fashion, food and landscapes, to name just a handful of the broad categories he has focused on.
The long-term Mexico City resident is currently exhibiting a selection of his photographs from the past 65 years at the Centro de la Imagen museum in the historic center of the capital. In addition, part of his “Paisajes de Agua” exhibition of waterscapes is on display at the Museo de la Ciudad (City Museum) in Cuernavaca.
At the age of 90, Schalkwijk continues to travel and photograph in Mexico, but found the time to respond to the following questions I put to him by email.
The Santuario de Jesús Nazareno in Atotonilco. (1959)
Peter Davies:
Hi Bob, thanks for speaking to Mexico News Daily. You’ve lived in Mexico for over 60 years. What originally brought you here?
Bob Schalkwijk:
At the beginning of 1958, after having completed some courses in Baytown, Texas, on oil pipelines, I applied to Stanford University to study petroleum engineering. I passed the exam, but I had to wait months to start classes. I thought that with my knowledge of oil pipelines, I could find a job in the Trans Mountain Pipeline in Canada.
But I didn’t get a job, and in February 1958, while I was having coffee at the Calgary airport, I read in Esquire magazine that in Ajijic, Jalisco, a couple could live and eat very well for about $150 a month.
With an occasional friend, at the beginning of winter, the idea of living on the shore of a lake, with food and drinks was fabulous. We didn’t think twice and aboard my vocho (Volkswagen Beetle) we drove from Calgary, Canada to Ajijic, in Mexico.
Once we ate and drank very well, we got bored with the atmosphere of the people who lived in Ajijic – retired Americans, over 50 years old and at that time I was still 24 years old. Thinking of taking advantage of our stay in Mexico, we headed to the capital, with the idea of learning Spanish, and that’s how it all began.
PD:
What inspired you to become, and how did you go about becoming, a professional photographer?
BS:
Photography has been with me since I was little. I knew about the passion that my paternal grandfather had for photography. He was not a professional photographer, nor did I know him, but his photographs and his photographic adventures excited me.
I loved photographing since I was 14 years old, when my father gave me a Kodak Brownie 127. That was my first camera. My parents also supported me in having a dark room and I would spend hours developing and printing my photos.
I was a rebellious student, but the Agfacolor book written in German by Dr. Heinz Berger, explaining the technique of color photography, and which I presented in my German final exams, saved me from being a bad student and increased my love for photography.
Mezcal palenque in Mitla, Oaxaca (1959).
Over the years I had better cameras and at the age of 19 I sold some portraits of Louis Armstrong that I took at a concert at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. That made me very happy, but I knew that I couldn’t make a living from photography in the Netherlands. That’s why I went to Texas to study oil pipelines.
Once in Mexico City, after a visit to Puerto México, then a small town in Hidalgo – which I called “the Otomí Country” – things changed. Fred Mulders, a Dutchman who lived in Mexico, who loved being here, was the one who took me to Hidalgo, and by pure chance, while I was studying Spanish, I was fortunate to meet people who made a living from art and photography. Fred introduced me to Walter Reuter, a German-born photographer and film director, who encouraged me to study film and to collaborate with him. So even though I returned to Stanford, my interest in petroleum engineering waned.
In college I took film classes, started taking pictures and went to a San Francisco newspaper to promote the pictures I took in the Mezquital Valley [in Hidalgo]. I didn’t get anywhere with the newspaper, but I was brave enough to drop out of Stanford University and set up as a photographer in Mexico City.
PD:
You’ve traveled extensively in Mexico during your long career as a photographer. Can you tell us a little bit about your travels through the country and the changes you’ve seen over the decades?
BS:
In those early years in Mexico I had a used VW, which my father had given me, and which had 128,000 kilometers on it. From 1958 to 1960, the year I sold it, I put another 100,000 kilometers on it. I have always preferred doing photographic work that allows me to travel – to be able to photograph what interests me.
In 1959 I went to Acapulco, Tepoztlán, and Oaxaca, and the following year I ventured to Chiapas alone. I was inspired by photographers like Pierre Verger, Robert Frank and Werner Bischof, who traveled to South America and photographed in a very emotional and caring way, recording the most human aspects and the simplicity of life in the communities.
Mexico, which for me is made up of “many Mexicos”, fascinated me and continues to fascinate me.
Vendor in Coyoacán (1990).
It is true that things have changed, not always for the better, but the people of Indigenous communities or small towns continue to be essentially simple.
PD:
You were in Mexico City when the devastating 1985 earthquake occurred and took numerous impactful photos showing both the destruction and the human side of the disaster. What do you recall of that difficult time?
BS:
What surprised me the most about the earthquake was the solidarity that was shown at the moment. Everyone began to help, with the resources that each person had and without anyone organizing them.
I lost my best photographs from the first day – that is a sad story that I inevitably remember. That September 19, after the earthquake and after I was sure everyone in our family was safe, my assistant Javier Tinoco and I, on my children’s bicycles, left Coyoacán, where I live and where my studio is, for the historic center.
The devastation was terrible. We worked all day until there was no light anymore. During those years I was a correspondent for the Black Star agency in New York. I knew that my photographs would interest them.
People search through the rubble of Multifamiliar Juárez apartment complex after the Mexico City earthquake. (1985)
Very tired, without having eaten, we had a bite at a local restaurant and returned to the studio to develop the rolls of black and white film and color slides, both of which I worked with from the beginning of my career as a photographer.
Almost without sleep, the next morning, I went to the courier service where I used to send my work, but it was closed. Without thinking too much about it, I went to the airport, looking for someone who could take my photos to New York. I found a man, most likely an American, and asked him if he could deliver my photographs. I even gave him some dollars so that he could take a taxi and leave them at the agency. My photographs, the ones we had selected – the best ones – never arrived.
During the following days I continued photographing the disaster. A major bank hired me to photograph the damage to their branches. About a month later I was asked to photograph the demolition of the Multifamiliar Juárez, a large apartment complex, in the Roma neighborhood. With those photographs a book was made in homage to [Guatemalan artist] Carlos Mérida, who made fantastic designs to be integrated into the architecture.
PD:
Mexico City has been your home for many years and, seemingly, a muse for your work as a photographer. What does the capital mean to you and how has it inspired and/or influenced your photography?
BS:
Since I settled in Mexico City, I began to go for walks accompanied by my camera to observe and photograph the situations that I saw. A place that I loved and that I still like is the Bosque de Chapultepec (Chapultepec Park), and I often walked along Avenida Reforma, which is fantastic, with its tree-lined sides surrounded by avant-garde buildings.
I also love areas like San Ángel, where I came to live at the beginning, and Coyoacán.
In Mexico City everything happens, there is a very special way of being from the capital, being chilango, and it is perhaps the historic center – the space in the center of the capital – that is most attractive in Mexico City.
Men and women are essentially the same, our cultures make us different, we dress in different ways, we eat different dishes, of course there are economic and political differences, often unfortunate, but on average, in people there is a vital and human essence that makes us equal.
I grew up during World War II. I could have died of anemia from not getting enough food and for that very reason I appreciate the good things in life.
Doña Santa in Coyachique, Chihuahua. (2013)
When I travel, I like to photograph the differences, but also the similarities [between people around the world]: the day-to-day work, the play of girls and boys, young people who fall in love, old people with their wrinkled faces.
I like to observe, to stop to understand what is happening. And what I have seen is that we could be better people if we looked at others.
This interview is the second in a series called “The Saturday Six”: six-question interviews published in Saturday editions of Mexico News Daily. Read the first interview in the series here.
An incomplete mural in San Miguel de Allende by artist David Alfaro Siquieros, made with assistance from foreign art students. (Leigh Thelmadatter)
The names Rivera, Kahlo, Siqueiros and Orozco still dominate the imagination when it comes to Mexican art, but did you know that from the 1920s to the 1950s, Mexico’s muralism movement has so much prestige internationally that it displaced Europe for a time?
Such would have been unthinkable during the preceding Mexican Revolution, but afterwards, several factors came together to make Mexico an irresistible draw for young, idealistic foreign artists.
Sisters Marion and Grace Greenwood and part of the work they did at the university in Morelia. It is said that Mexico gave the Greenwoods more freedom than their native U.S., but their wearing of overalls caused scandal in early 20th-century Michoacán.
Mexico was undergoing momentous changes in its identity, with a post-Revolution government needing to establish legitimacy and its ideology among a populace that was still mostly illiterate. Without mass media, murals were one way to promote Mexico as a blend of indigenous and European, with a healthy dose of socialism thrown in.
Government mural commissions became prestigious, and many sympathetic artists benefited, but none more so than the “big three”: Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and José Clemente Orozco.
Muralism was highly nationalistic, but aspects of it appealed abroad. The legacy of colonialism was starting to be debated, including the (re)integration of native identities. While documenting the violence of the Revolution, foreign photographers also captured scenes of Mexico’s many traditional communities.
These communities appealed to many weary of Western industrialization. Last, but not least, was the socialism/communism of many of Mexico’s artists as part of a global movement.
The eagle and snake of the Mexican national shield appears in a Mexico City mural (1924) by French artist Jean Charlot. (Leigh Thelmadatter)
One other important factor would be war and other strife in Europe, making Paris too dangerous for budding artists.
Early artists who came and explored Mexico’s artistic possibilities included Everett Gee Jackson and Lowell Houser in 1923, who would eventually make their way to the Lake Chapala area.
For the next three decades, it is not known how many foreign artists came, but many are referred to in Mexican history as “assistants” — something of a misnomer. Many were young and looking to start careers by piggybacking on Mexico’s prestige, but few worked as true assistants to established Mexican artists.
One reason was that Mexican artists did not see value in the participation of outsiders. This was particularly true of Siqueiros and Orozco; Rivera was more open to foreigners.
Diego Rivera’s sketch of Charlot. (Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust)
Despite that negativity, there are a number of notable non-Mexican muralists. The first is Frenchman Jean Charlot who painted “The Conquest of Tenochtitlan” (1922) and “Dance of the Ribbons,” the last of which was destroyed in 1925 by none other than Rivera, and Charlot left Mexico to have a successful career in the States.
Other names include Ione Robinson, Pablo O’Higgins, Rina Lazo, Marion and Grace Greenwood, Howard Cook, Philip Guston, Reuben Kadish, Ryah Ludins and Isamu Noguchi. Although they shared high hopes upon entering Mexico, their experiences varied quite a bit from the idyllic to absolute disillusionment.
Robinson was the closest to an “assistant,” working on projects that Rivera assigned her — at least until Kahlo got jealous and sent the young woman packing.
What most of these artists did was to find or create projects outside of prestigious governmental commissions inside of Mexico City.
Relief mural by Japanese artist Isamu Noguchi made with colored cement at the Abelardo L. Rodríguez Market in Mexico City. (Esoteric Survey)
Marion Greenwood went to Taxco and convinced the Hotel Taxqueño to let her paint “Taxco Market” (1933), followed by “This Landscape and Economy of Michoacán” at the University of San Nicolás Hidalgo in Morelia with her sister Grace. Neither were paid apart from expenses, but the works opened doors back in the U.S.
Similarly, Howard Cook would paint “Taxco Fiesta” at the same hotel just after Greenwood, then paint murals in U.S. post offices.
Most never considered staying in Mexico, but are interesting exceptions: Pablo O’Higgins is a classic case of “going native,” deciding everything about Mexico was superior to his native U.S. He would have a decades-long career painting murals and would have a hand in setting up foreign artists with projects, culminating in the massive project at Mexico City’s Abelardo L. Rodríguez Market in the 1950s.
Rina Lazo came from Guatemala on a scholarship in the 1930s. Both her personal and professional lives were strongly linked to Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, starting out as an assistant then moving on to create important murals of her own. Her husband was one of “Los Fridos” (students of Frida Kahlo). Lucky for me, I met her shortly before her death in 2019, and her devotion to Diego and Frida remained unshaken.
Rina Lazo in the summer of 2019 with one of her last and ultimately uncompleted murals at her home studio in Coyoacán, Mexico City. (Leigh Thelmadatter)
But not everyone was thrilled with what they found here. In 1934, Philip Guston and Reuban Kadish came to Mexico to paint “The Struggle Against War and Fascism” in Michoacan. But they quickly became disillusioned.
According to Guston, “The much heralded Mexican renaissance is very much a bag of hot air. I can’t explain to you my disappointment in [Rivera]. His work is absolutely a horrible mess. … Charlot’s fresco … is, of course, the best thing here.”
Both Guston and Kadish left Mexico behind for other artistic trends and did not talk much about their experience in Mexico.
Classic muralism’s last hurrah was the Abelardo L. Rodriguez Market project. Rivera was officially in charge and had significant influence in how the project developed, but artist recruitment and supervision fell onto Pablo O’Higgins. Here, he reunited the Greenwood sisters, along with Russian artist Ryah Ludins, Japan’s Isamu Noguchi and others, each with wall space of their own.
Jean Charlot’s mural, “Dance of the Riboons,” which Diego Rivera destroyed in 1925. (SEP)
One other important foreigner-linked project is a never-completed mural by David Siqueiros in San Miguel Allende from the early 1950s. Siqueiros was hired by the local art school to do the work with students, but the deal went sour. The mural remains an important tourist attraction in the city.
Those mentioned here are by no means a full list of the foreign artists who came to Mexico at muralism’s height, but they are part of the reason why muralism remains relevant here, even if no longer avant-garde.
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.
President López Obrador covered diplomacy, the reshuffling of his cabinet, crime in Tijuana, the "noble trade of politics" and more at the week's daily press conferences. (Gob MX)
President López Obrador lost two members of his cabinet this week. Marcelo Ebrard stepped down as foreign minister on Monday and Adán Augusto López Hernández resigned his post as interior minister on Friday. Both are vying to become the ruling Morena party’s candidate at next year’s presidential election.
Other ministers and senior officials are expected to resign their positions soon as they shift their focus to winning candidacies for other elections, including gubernatorial ones, that will also be held on June 2, 2024.
The president at a May press conference with Interior Minister López Hernández and Foreign Minister Ebrard. (Rogelio Morales Ponce / Cuartoscuro.com)
Resignations and finding replacements for those departing weren’t the only things that occupied AMLO’s mind this week.
Among the other issues he spoke about at his morning press conferences, or mañaneras, this week were security concerns faced by the mayor of Tijuana, the blistering heat across much of the country and the strength of the Mexican peso, which appreciated to just above 17 to the US dollar on Friday.
Monday
The federal minister for infrastructure, communications and transportation took center stage early in the press conference and provided an update on five infrastructure projects in Cancún, Quintana Roo.
The Nichupté Bridge, which will link the city to the hotel zone across the Nichupté Lagoon, is 21% complete, while the repaving of the Luis Donaldo Colosio Boulevard is 69% finished, Jorge Nuño Lara said.
A new airport distributor road is 64% complete and the widening of Chac Mool Avenue is 13% finished, he added.
The minister said that construction of a road link between the Cancún airport and the city’s Maya Train station will begin in July.
“This project consists of four kilometers … [and] will connect the four [airport] terminals with the Maya Train station,” Nuño said, adding that an electric vehicle with the capacity to transport 47 passengers will operate between the rail and air hubs.
The PAN senator knocking at the door of the National Palace. ( Moisés Pablo Nava / Cuartoscuro.com)
AMLO began his engagement with reporters about 35 minutes into his mañanera, and was soon asked about Senator Xóchitl Gálvez’s unsuccessful attempt to get into his Monday morning presser.
“I don’t want to talk a lot about that. … In general, you already know my opinion. The conservatives, including the señora Xóchitl Gálvez, have always been against the majority of the people – the poor, the dispossessed,” he said.
López Obrador claimed that the National Action Party senator – who obtained an injunction granting her the right of reply at the president’s presser after he made allegedly false comments about her late last year – wanted to challenge him as a publicity stunt because she wants to be a candidate in the election for Mexico City mayor next year.
Instead of coming to the National Palace to attend a mañanera, she should go to “where the fifís live,” AMLO said, using a disparaging slang word for the wealthy elite. “They’ll vote for her, without a doubt.”
The president was also asked about who would replace Marcelo Ebrard and Adán Augusto López Hernández, who left their respective positions as foreign minister and interior minister this week to focus on campaigning for the ruling Morena party’s nomination for the 2024 presidential election.
“I think that this week we’ll announce who will replace Marcelo Ebrard,” López Obrador said without setting a timeline for the substitution of López Hernández.
He noted later that, in accordance with candidate selection process rules established last Sunday, he can’t speak out in favor of or against any of those vying to win the Morena nomination.
AMLO did say that all the Morena “pre-candidates” should “defend the transformation” of Mexico, “which is to defend the people [and] not allow classism, racism, discrimination and corruption.”
“She has an extensive career in the field of diplomacy. She is a very intelligent and capable woman,” AMLO said of the former executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.
“… I’m very happy because we’re going to be well represented. She’s a professional, a diplomat, a woman with convictions, with principles, and she will help us in this last stretch in government,” he said.
The president announces that Alicia Bárcena, Mexico’s current ambassador to Chile, will be the next foreign minister. (Gob MX)
The president – a fierce critic of the National Electoral Institute (INE) while it was under the leadership of Lorenzo Córdova – subsequently noted that he would meet with INE councilors later in the day to “exchange points of view.”
“There is no defined agenda, it’s a conversation … with the aim of working in a coordinated way … to ensure democracy in the country, that there is no influence peddling, that the INE acts with complete autonomy and doesn’t depend on the government or oligarchical groups,” AMLO said.
He said he believed there are “excellent conditions” to begin a “new stage” in the government’s relationship with the INE, which has been under the leadership of Guadalupe Taddei Zavala – who has links to Morena – since April.
One reporter asked AMLO about the directive to the Morena presidential aspirants to “avoid” speaking with “reactionary and conservative” media outlets.
“It is forbidden to prohibit,” but instructing the aspirants to “avoid” speaking with such outlets is fine, López Obrador said.
“It’s more than proven that the majority of media outlets … manipulate [information] and are at the service of the oligarchy,” he said.
“… There might be some exceptions, but … the majority of media outlets have [a preferred] party and defend interests. That’s why they don’t inform but manipulate. They have a political attitude and it’s a reactionary political attitude,” AMLO said.
The president was also asked about the the mayor of Tijuana’s announcement that she would move into military barracks due to concerns for her safety after receiving threats from presumed members of crime gangs.
Montserrat Caballero has been under protection for the past 15 days “because she has received threats,” López Obrador said.
Tijuana Mayor Montserrat Caballero said that the move was a “sacrifice,” but explained, “I have a child, I have a family and I have a commitment to my city.” (Montserrat Caballero/Facebook)
“… An agreement to help her, to protect her, was reached and we’re going to continue doing so. We’re going to see how things evolve, always taking her opinion into account,” he said.
AMLO said that Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda and Senator Jaime Bonilla – a former governor of the northern border state – had also received threats from crime groups.
Late in the press conference, Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez indicated that she would remain in the president’s cabinet rather than pursue the mayorship of Mexico City at next year’s election.
“I’m staying in security, the [Ministry of] Security and Citizens Protection, I’ll remain here serving Mexicans,” she said.
Wednesday
During his Q & A session with reporters, López Obrador reiterated that he would completely withdraw from politics once his term as president concludes in late 2024.
“I’m not going to speak [about politics] at all, I’m going into full retirement. I will be spoken about a lot, but I’m going to leave with a very calm conscience, that’s the most important thing,” he said.
AMLO later acknowledged that some senior officials in his government – in addition to those vying for Morena’s nomination for the 2024 presidential election – will resign to focus on winning elected positions next year.
“The majority said they’re staying until the end,” he said, referring to members of his extended cabinet who attended a meeting at the National Palace on Tuesday.
“… There are others who decided to participate [in upcoming elections] – those that we already know about … and others who are going to participate in federal and state electoral processes and that is also valid,” López Obrador said.
Those who are leaving are “first-class” people and those staying are as well, he said.
The president didn’t say which officials intended to leave his government, but several – including Energy Minister Rocío Nahle and National Tourism Promotion Fund chief Javier May – have their eyes on the governorships of different states.
Turning to his meeting with INE councilors, López Obrador said he told the electoral officials that he wouldn’t tell them what to do as they are “independent” and “autonomous.”
“They should just act democratically and not become employees of oligarchs like the INE was before,” he said.
AMLO said a “new stage” has begun in the federal government’s relationship with the electoral agency. (AMLO/Twitter)
Citizens should vote in a way that helps their preferred presidential candidate have a supermajority in Congress as constitutional “modifications” are needed, he said.
“… For more than 30 years [past governments] dedicated themselves to reforming the constitution to favor a minority and harm the the people of Mexico. … There is not a single reform they did to benefit Mexico, to benefit the people. They adjusted the whole legal framework in order to loot, to steal,” López Obrador said.
Late in his presser, the president assigned some homework to reporters.
“Do you know what I’m going to have for breakfast? A chinín. I’ll leave [finding out what that is] as homework. It’s the butter of the poor,” he said, referring to what in fact is a native Mexican fruit similar to the avocado.
Thursday
Relatively early in his presser, AMLO noted that farmers demanding higher minimum prices for grains had blockaded the Culiacán airport, but asserted that the government wouldn’t give in to their demands.
“Not many [farmers are involved] because the majority of people realize that we’re helping producers and the most needy people, and what we’re seeking is food self-sufficiency – that is known,” he said.
López Obrador said that about 200 farmers had protested at the airport, where operations were suspended for two days before resuming on Thursday.
“We’re not going to give in, even if they have [control of] the airport. And also, for their peace of mind, we’re not going to use public force [to remove them],” he said not long before the protesting farmers left the airport for state government offices.
Sinaloa is Mexico’s largest producer of corn, and the protesting farmers claimed that market prices do not guarantee them a proper living. (Twitter)
“… I regret it because it affects those who use the airport, who need to travel, but our government doesn’t allow blackmail. … They should understand that we’ve helped them, that we’re going to continue helping them,” López Obrador said before accusing the “conservative bloc” – opposition parties and other government adversaries – of being involved in the protest
AMLO noted later in his mañanera that the Mexican peso is “very strong,” before asserting that many reasons for the currency’s strength are not acknowledged by “conservatives,” including journalists such as Jorge Ramos and Ciro Gómez Leyva.
“They say it’s external factors, that that’s why the peso is strong, as if it has nothing to do with us, nothing to do with combating corruption, nothing to do with Mexico being one of the most attractive countries for foreign investment, nothing to do with Mexico being among the countries with the lowest unemployment rates, noting to do with Mexico having [economic] growth rates of over 3%, noting to do with the increase to the minimum wage, … nothing to with there being governability, stability, social peace,” he said.
Just before drawing his press conference to a close, López Obrador expressed his support for Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum’s nomination of Government Secretary Martí Batres as her replacement.
Batres – who was sworn in as mayor on Friday – is “an honest person, that’s very important, I always emphasize that, AMLO said.
“He’s a man with principles, with ideals. He comes from a family that has always fought for justice,” he said.
Martí Bartres is sworn in as the head of government to replace Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum. (GobCDMX/Twitter)
“I, with a lot of pride, was the first president of Morena when that organization was founded by millions of Mexicans, men and women from all the social classes, all the religions – believers, non-believers – indigenous people, campesinos, workers, business people, scientists, intellectuals and journalists. … And the second president of Morena was Martí. In addition, he knows the problems of Mexico City very well,” AMLO said.
“He will provide continuity to the process initiated [by Sheinbaum] in Mexico City, that’s a guarantee.”
Friday
It was a two-man show on Friday, with Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) chief Pablo Gómez accompanying Mexico’s preeminent political figure.
The government’s civil case in Florida aimed at recovering close to US $650 million in assets that former security minister Genaro García Luna allegedly acquired in the United States with proceeds of criminal activities in Mexico is going ahead, Gómez said.
Lawyers for García Luna – who was convicted in the U.S. on drug trafficking charges in February – filed a challenge “saying that the court … in Florida didn’t have the legal capacity to hear the trial,” he said.
Pablo Gómez discusses the government’s lawsuit in the U.S. to recover ex-security minister García Luna’s allegedly ill-gotten gains. (Gob MX)
“Another court has now ruled and … the case for the return of the resources from Mexico is now unassailable. … There will be a trial without any doubt,” the UIF chief said.
López Obrador replaced Gómez at the mañanera lectern and confirmed that Adán Augusto López Hernández had resigned as interior minister to focus on the contest to secure Morena’s nomination for the 2024 presidential election.
The president said that a replacement interior minister had not yet been chosen, but announced that Deputy Interior Minister Alejandro Encinas – recently identified as a victim of espionage – would take charge of the ministry for the time being.
AMLO said he was preparing to “hand over the baton” to a new “leader of the transformation movement,” someone who can provide “continuity with change” to the political project he began when he was sworn in as president on Dec. 1, 2018.
“That’s why Adán resigned, because he’s looking to be the substitute, the replacement,” he said before noting that Marcelo Ebrard, Ricard Monreal and Claudia Sheinbaum were also in the contest.
“They’re resigning because they’re the best leaders of our movement, those who can lead this ship to a good port, this ship that is already on course,” López Obrador said.
“… We’re not going to take a single backward step … in the fight against corruption,” he added.
AMLO later spoke about the book he is currently writing, a follow-up to A la mitad del camino, which was published in 2021.
“The book isn’t autobiographical, … it has more to do with political experience,” he said, adding that its aim is to help young people who want to dedicate their lives to “the noble trade of politics.”
“There are lessons in the entire process we’ve lived, a lot of factors, a lot of circumstances are involved,” López Obrador said.
“… A lot of people fought before [us] in the student movement, in the workers’ movement, in the farmers’ movement, the movement for democracy – precursors of this movement. So it’s up to us to provide continuity to that process of struggle. It’s a special circumstance,” he said.
“Luck helps a lot as well. Politics, Machiavelli said, is virtue, but also fortune, also luck,” López Obrador said.
At the end of a shorter than usual press conference during which he offered his typical long and meandering responses to reporters’ questions, AMLO outlined his plan for another tour of Mexico’s southeast to inspect progress on the construction of the Maya Train railroad.
“[Today] it’s [Mexico City to] Palenque, Xpujil and we’ll sleep in Chetumal. Tomorrow Tulum, Cancún and we’ll sleep in Mérida,” he said, adding that he would supervise construction of the railroad in the state of Campeche on Sunday before returning to Mexico City from Ciudad del Carmen.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies ([email protected])
The rowdy match saw four red cards issued after a brawl on the field. (Selección Nacional/Twitter)
The United States beat Mexico 3-0 in Las Vegas to reach the Concacaf Nations League final on Thursday night, in a game that marked an all-time low for the Mexican national team, both on and off the field.
The tumultuous match, which saw four red cards – two for each side – was cut short in the 6th minute of injury time, after yet another incident of homophobic chanting from the crowd, with six minutes still scheduled to play.
Despite efforts by the league and the team to discourage discrimination, Mexico’s fans have been condemned for homophobic chants at various matches. (FMF)
“It’s a great scoreline for us, it’s a big win and we’re into the finals,” U.S. captain Christian Pulisic said. “But the game didn’t need to turn into all the madness that it did.”
Chelsea star Pulisic scored the opening two goals, before César Montes was sent off in the 69th minute for a kick on Arsenal’s Folarin Balogun, who was making his debut for the USMNT after a switch from international football with the England Under-21 setup.
A passionate match was capped off by a mass brawl after the United States’ third goal in the 78th minute, with U.S. players Weston McKennie and Sergino Dest sent off – meaning both will now be suspended for the final. Mexico’s Gerardo Arteaga was also given a red card for his part in the scuffle.
“They really need to control the game much more. It’s sad. And now we’re missing two good players just because everyone’s losing their heads,” continued Pulisic. “I’m a little bit upset but at the end of the day we’re in the final.”
Chaos reigned on the pitch, as the referee gave four red cards – two to each team – in a match that often got out of hand on the pitch and in the stands. (Twitter)
“El Tri”, as the Mexican team is also known, has not beaten the U.S in any of their last six games.
Mexico winger Jesús Gallardo shared his frustration with the fans. “We have not been this poor for a while, but we are trying to play well, we are trying to get back on top as Mexico deserves. We owe that to ourselves, but also to our fans. It hurts to lose.”
Regional governing body Concacaf condemned the abuse from the crowd. Fans of the Mexican national team were also denounced by FIFA after homophobic chanting during the group stages of the 2022 Qatar World Cup. The team may even be at risk of losing their lucrative contract to play their home games in the United States as a result of fan behavior.
“Chants heard during the game led to the activation of the anti-discrimination protocol by the match officials,” the body said.
Mexico’s fans have caused controversy at international games. (Selección Nacional/Twitter)
“Additionally, security staff ejected several fans for engaging in unacceptable behavior in the stadium.”
“These incidents were extremely disappointing and tarnished what should have been a positive occasion to showcase high-quality football in our region.”
The U.S. will face Canada on Monday, in the tournament final.
