Interior Minister Adán Augusto López formally announced his resignation at a Mexico City hotel Friday, where he also rejected the 5 million pesos Morena is offering each pre-candidate. He asked for it to be donated to two of Mexico's poorest towns. (Screen capture)
Adán Augusto López Hernández has resigned as interior minister to officially enter the contest to secure the ruling Morena party’s nomination for the 2024 presidential election.
President López Obrador announced the departure at his morning press conference on Friday, and López Hernández subsequently posted his resignation letter to Twitter.
Lopez posted this photo to his Twitter account Friday, a final pose with his fellow AMLO cabinet members.
Deputy Interior Minister for Human Rights Alejandro Encinas — recently identified as a victim of espionage — will take charge of the Ministry of the Interior until a successor for López Hernández is found, the president said.
The Morena National Council determined last Sunday that the aspirants to the party’s presidential candidacy must formally register their interest and resign their current positions by June 16.
Marcelo Ebrard stepped down as foreign minister on Monday, while Claudia Sheinbaum is concluding her mayorship of Mexico City today. Ricardo Monreal, the fourth of the main Morena aspirants, steps down as a senator and leader of Morena in the upper house today.
In his resignation letter to López Obrador, López Hernández — who stepped down as governor of Tabasco in August 2021 to become interior minister — adulated the president.
“I am little more than a consequence of the fight you lead, and led for decades. … I don’t deny the esteem, the respect and the admiration I feel for you,” he wrote.
López Hernández, who trails Sheinbaum and Ebrard in most polls measuring the popularity of Morena aspirants, said that his position in the federal government “allowed me to accompany you while you write one of the most brilliant pages in the history of Tabasco, Mexico and Latin American democracy.”
Deputy Interior Minister for Human Rights Alejandro Encinas, seen here on Tuesday arriving at the National Palace for a meeting with President Lopez Obrador, will take over López’s post until a replacement is found. (Galo Cañas Rodríguez/Cuartoscuro)
He and the other Morena presidential aspirants will have just over two months to campaign across Mexico before national polls are conducted to choose a new standard bearer for the ruling party. The Morena candidate for the June 2, 2024 election will be announced Sept. 6.
López Obrador said Friday that he was preparing to “hand over the baton” to a new “leader of the transformation movement.”
The aspirants are not resigning because they’re “incompetent,” he said.
“On the contrary, they’re resigning because they are the best leaders of our movement, those who can lead this ship to a good port, this ship that is already on course. We already know very well what we have to keep doing in Mexico.”
Hundreds of wild birds found dead along the Pacific coast between Chiapas and Baja California isparked alarm about a possible outbreak of the highly contagious A (H5N1) strain of bird flu, but authorities have ruled that possibility out. (Sader)
A mass bird die-off on Mexico’s Pacific coast was not caused by avian flu but by the climatological phenomenon ‘El Niño’, said Mexico’s Agriculture Ministry.
Hundreds of wild birds were found dead along the Pacific coast between Chiapas and Baja California in early June, sparkingalarm among environmental authorities about a possible outbreak of the highly contagious A (H5N1) strain of bird flu.
El Niño causes warming of parts of the Pacific Ocean that can modify weather patterns worldwide, sometimes trigger floods or droughts. (Michel Balam/Cuartoscuro)
However, autopsies conducted on many of the dead birds by Mexico’s National Service of Health, Safety and Food Quality (Senasica) has concluded that the animals died of starvation.
“The most likely cause of this epidemiological event is the warming of the Pacific Ocean due to the El Niño weather phenomenon, which causes fish to go deeper in search of colder waters, preventing seabirds from hunting their food,” saida statement by the ministry.
El Niño is a cyclical climate phenomenon that causes warming of parts of the Pacific Ocean. This can modify weather patterns worldwide, sometimes triggering extreme events such as floods or droughts.
The investigation of the seabirds’ deaths involved more than 15 veterinarians and biologists from the Mexico-U.S. Commission for the Prevention of Foot-and-Mouth Disease and other Exotic Animal Diseases, as well as local authorities in Mexico’s Pacific states.
Many of the dead birds were gray-backed shearwaters, a deep-sea bird that requires a significant amount of energy to survive. (JJ Harrison/Wikimedia)
The Commission found that 90% of the dead animals are gray-backed shearwaters, which live on the high seas and require high amounts of energy to survive, although dead gulls and pelicans have also been seen. Most of the animals died over the ocean and were washed ashore by sea currents.
Excess seabird deaths have also been reported on the Pacific coast of Chile and Peru, further supporting the theory that the bird deaths in Mexico were the result of El Niño.
In non-El Niño years, a process called upwelling brings nutrient-rich cold waters to the surface of the Pacific off the coasts of Chile, Peru and Ecuador. This allows phytoplankton to photosynthesize and become food for fish who are then eaten by seabirds. El Niño causes this upwelling process to slow down or stop completely.
In May, climatologist Michelle L’Heureux warned that El Niño had formed a month or two earlier than usual this year, which “gives it room to grow.” She said there is a 25% chance it could reach supergiant levels, with potentially severe consequences around the world.
AMLO hosted Von der Leyen at the National Palace to discuss trade, security and energy policy. (AMLO/Twitter)
President López Obrador and European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen agreed on Thursday to expedite negotiations aimed at finalizing a new free trade pact between Mexico and the European Union (EU).
Von der Leyen, a former minister of defense in Germany who has been head of the executive branch of the European Union since late 2019, met with López Obrador at the National Palace in Mexico City.
Ursula von der Leyen is the first European Commission President to visit Mexico in 11 years. (AMLO/Twitter)
It was the first visit to Mexico by an EC president in 11 years and “aimed to relaunch the bilateral relationship and the strategic partnership between Mexico and the European Union in all its dimensions,” according to a joint press release.
To develop a deeper political, trade and cooperation partnership, the statement said, López Obrador and von der Leyen “concurred on the importance of the draft modernized Global Agreement and agreed to expedite negotiations with a view to finalize the agreement before the end of the year.”
Mexico and the European Union reached an agreement in principle on the main trade parts of a new Global Agreement in April 2018, but haven’t finalized the pact in the more than five years since then.
The new deal, which will replace the existing Global Agreement once ratified, will allow tariff-free trade of most Mexican and European products. It will also allow Mexican companies to bid for government contracts in Europe and EU companies for those in Mexico, according to a Reuters report.
Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Carmen Moreno Toscano (left) welcomes the EC president to Mexico. (SRE/Twitter)
“Mexico is the EU’s second largest trading partner in Latin America and the Caribbean, while the EU is Mexico’s third largest trading partner and the second largest investor in the country,” according to the joint press release.
The statement also said that López Obrador and von der Leyen “identified joint priorities and challenges such as the fight against inequality, the fight against poverty, human rights, the energy transition, the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss, migration, health, inflation and food security and the defense of international law.”
In addition, the two leaders spoke about the EU’s Global Gateway strategy, in which EU institutions and member states “jointly, will mobilize up to €300 billion of investments for sustainable and high-quality projects, taking into account the needs of partner countries and ensuring lasting benefits for local communities,” according to the EC website.
The initiative offers opportunities for “priority projects in Mexico, on sustainable finance, public health, vaccine production, sustainable energy including green hydrogen, and on sustainable water management,” the statement said.
AMLO stated on Twitter that Von der Leyen is an “intelligent and nice woman”, and that they plan to accelerate the signing of the free trade pact that was originally drawn up in 2018. (European Commission/Twitter)
In a wide-ranging discussion, the two presidents “identified Mexico as a strategic energy, industrial and logistical hub to supply the North American and European markets, with a high potential in green hydrogen energy, and agreed that European investments will be important to contribute to its development.”
They “reaffirmed their solidarity with the people of Ukraine after the Russian aggression,” emphasized their joint commitment to “combat the illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons,” recognized “the importance of a comprehensive approach to address migration” and “agreed that the Summit of Leaders of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the European Union, held on 17 and 18 July 2023 in Brussels, Belgium, would enable the long-standing bi-regional partnership to be renewed and strengthened.”
On social media, López Obrador described von der Leyen as an “intelligent and nice woman.”
“… We agreed to speed up the signing of the free trade agreement between our country and the European Union,” he added.
An aerial view of the Puerto Peñasco Solar Park, part of Mexico’s “Plan Sonora” to increase renewable energy generation. (Mexico Energy Partners LLC)
The EC president said on Twitter that Mexico is a “strategic partner and key G20 member, with whom we share core values.”
“… #GlobalGateway will power our partnership. We will support your Plan Sonora, to harness a resource you have in abundance: the sun. And we will work together to increase the resilience of health systems in the region. This is just a start – we should explore more,” von der Leyen said.
“We have a thriving partnership but we can do much more. We agreed to speed up negotiations and finalize our modernized EU-Mexico agreement before the end of the year,” she said.
During the EC president’s visit to Mexico, the European Investment Bank (EIB) – the EU’s development bank – signed a declaration of intent with Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) to “reinforce their strategic partnership on financing sustainable development in the country,” the EIB said.
In the declaration, the SRE said, “the government of Mexico and the EIB express their interest in collaborating on programs and projects that generate positive social, economic and environmental rights in benefit of the Mexican people.”
New developments, such as the Nexxus park in Apodaca, Nuevo Leon, are filling fast, as a new Banxico survey suggests 30% of Mexican companies are already seeing the benefits of nearshoring. (Nexxus)
Three out of 10 companies operating in Mexico are already seeing benefits from nearshoring, according to a Bank of Mexico (Banxico) survey, reflecting high levels of optimism from businesses that have relocated here.
Banxico’s survey of more than 400 companies found that 27% are already increasing their productive capacity, either by expanding existing plants or building new ones.
A diverse range of Asian businesses have sought to set up manufacturing facilities in Mexico. Seen here is the new Yinlun factory in Nuevo León under construction in 2022. (Hofusan Industrial Park/Twitter)
“… 30.7% of companies mentioned having signed new contracts with foreign companies or having increased their production due to relocation,” Banxico reported. “A similar proportion, of 29.1%, said that they have hired more personnel, increased their use of installed capacity, or increased the surface area of rented properties.”
Another 40.6% of entrepreneurs surveyed believed that they would see benefits from nearshoring by 2024 or 2025, while 23.2% said they would feel the effect between 2026 and 2030.
The bank concluded that nearshoring in Mexico is well underway but that it will take time for its strongest effects to be felt.
“The relocation of production is likely to be gradual, as planning and setting up businesses in a new location are costly and time-consuming processes,” the bank’s report said.
Northern states, such as Coahuila, have seen heavy investment, thanks to their proximity to the important U.S. markets. (Photo: OCV Salitillo)
In the survey, 32.9% of respondents said their companies planned to increase investment in Mexico in the future, while 42.5% had held internal conversations about how they could benefit from nearshoring.
The trend has beenencouraged by policymakers in both Mexico and the United States, particularly in the wake of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement (USMCA), which, like NAFTA, exempts agricultural and manufactured goods made in any of the three USMCA countries from tariffs that meet origin of materials requirements.
Last year, Mexico saw foreign direct investment (FDI) ofUS $35.3 billion, the highest figure since 2015. In May, the Economy Ministry reported thatUS $48 billion of investments in Mexico had already been announced during 2023, many linked to nearshoring.
Although the phenomenon’s immediate effects are in the manufacturing sector, the mass relocation of Asian firms to Mexico is predicted to drive growth in supporting industries such as food, construction and education. Economists have urged Mexican policymakers toinvest in infrastructure to maximize the benefits of this trend and to ensure that its effects are felt throughout the country.
“All regions of the country have the potential to benefit from relocation, not just the north,” said Alejandrina Salcedo, Banxico’s chief economist, in a video conference discussing the latest survey. “All regions should have the infrastructure.”
Orchids growing on trees at the Moxviquil Botanical Garden in San Cristobal. Despite affixing themselves to other plants, orchids are not parasitic. (Credit Moxviquil Botanical Garden/Facebook)
When British Surrealist Edward James founded his famous gardens in Xilitla, he was initially looking for a place to house his prized orchid collection.
He was one of many aficionados of the plant, and since Mexico comes second only to Brazil in its range of native orchid species, it makes sense that many Mexicans and foreign residents alike are involved in the conservation and promotion of these exceptionally beautiful blooms.
Mexican orchids are best known for the vanilla they produce, but there are 1,200 orchid species in the country, 444 of which are endemic. (Malcolm Manners/Wikimedia)
Just about everyone is familiar with one Mexican orchid, or at least its product — vanilla. Although most “vanilla” today is either fake or not from Mexico, the flavor has been prized since the Mesoamerican period, on par with chocolate.
But many of Mexico’s orchids have uses beyond vanilla and collectibles, such as medicine, adhesives and foodstuffs. One — Prosthechea radiata— is even narcotic.
Mexico’s numerous orchid species — 1,200 species in 164 genera, of which 444 are endemic — come from the nation’s wide diversity of environments. Although most are found in central and southern Mexico, orchids can also be found in microclimates in the more arid north.
According to the Environment and Natural Resources Ministry, at least 180 of these species are at some level of risk, and at least one is now extinct in the wild.
One of these is Laelia speciosa, native to highly populated central Mexico. Its threat is habitat loss, with urbanization, logging, agriculture and other human activities destroying forests and other ecosystems. The poaching of wild specimens is also still very common despite a near-absolute ban on the practice.
The Laelia speciosa is one of Mexico’s most iconic orchids, but it is threatened by habitat loss. (Wikimedia Commons)
Both public and private organizations work to protect Mexico’s orchids. The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) began its orchid collection in 1960, with 176 species forming part of its massive botanical garden.
Outside of the capital, there are a number of local and regionally-important collections. Vallarta’s Botanical Garden has had orchids as a focus since it opened in 2005. Even more impressive is the Lo de Perla Jungle Garden in San Pancho, Nayarit, near Sayulita. Other collections can be found at the Xoxoctic Botanical Garden in Cuetzalan, Puebla, the Moxviquil Orchid Botanical Gardens in San Cristóbal, Chiapas, and Animaya in Mérida, Yucatan and the Biori Botanical Garden in Orizaba, Veracruz.
The popularity of orchids, I must admit, took me by surprise. I found all kinds of support for orchid lovers in Mexico, including a Rutopia tour focused on the orchids of Campeche and various Facebook groups on the plant.
Perhaps one reason for orchids’ popularity is that hybridization allows for creativity in cultivation, but it also generates controversy. Elizabeth Coulterjohn, a local expert in Ajijic, states that the use of “species” can be controversial and its best left for orchids that have evolved naturally, rather than for hybrids.
“Real world” orchid nonprofits and clubs are found all over Mexico. Established in 1971, the Asociación Mexicana de Orquideologia is a national-level organization with 28 chapters all over the country, concerned with protecting wild orchids and propagating domesticated ones, says Rebeca Alicia López Mendoza, a coordinator in the Asociacion.
In Guadalajara, the main orchid organization is the Asociación Jalisciense de Orquideología, which collaborates with the University of Guadalajara for similar purposes.
Orchid exhibits by the Asociación Jalisciense de Orquideologia at the Museo Paleontologia in Guadalajara help to raise awareness of the orchid’s role in nature. (credit Asociación Jalisciense de Orquideología/Facebook)
Many Mexican and expat communities of any size have at least an informal club. Many suspended or diminished activities during COVID but are now returning to normal activities such as plant sales and conferences.
Both professional and amateur organizations have been important to the understanding of Mexican orchids. Until relatively recently, only the species native to the highlands of central Mexico had been extensively studied.
In the 1960s, Joann Andrews made her way to the Yucatán peninsula to find that almost nothing was known of the orchid species there. Almost entirely on her own, she published some of the first books on the subject. Jim Smiley came to Mexico around 20 years ago, fell in love with Yucatán orchids and continued Andrews’ work.
But knowledge and appreciation of Mexican orchids has its downside, as Andrews observed.
“In the ‘70s to the ‘90s, we had people come in, particularly from the United States, and take out a lot of orchids. Some of the beautiful orchids you’ll see on trees will be 30 to 50 years old. It takes a long time, five years before it even blooms,” she said.
Unfortunately, poaching continues to this day. Coulterjohn says it has been a particular problem in the Lake Chapala area, and in the more than 25 years that she’s been a resident, the mountains north of the lake have almost been stripped bare.
To be a responsible orchid collector, take care where you buy them. Under Mexican law, only licensed nurseries that use approved propagation techniques can legally sell orchid plants. From street vendors, you run the risk of buying illegally poached specimens or plants that are not orchids.
Responsibility also means knowing how to take care of your plants. Temperate and tropical orchids have very different care requirements and do not do well outside of certain temperature and humidity ranges.
Laws related to orchids can be unclear about which orchids are protected and to what extent, says Smiley. The only absolute is that poaching and the possession of poached plants carries the risk of heavy fines and, in extreme cases, even jail time.
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.
Farmers demanding government minimum prices for grain have agreed to meet Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya to discuss a pathway forward. (Twitter)
Corn producers have agreed to lift their 40-hour blockade of Culiacán’s international airport and hold talks with Sinaloa’s Governor Rubén Rocha Moya over the disputed price of grain.
During a brief radio broadcast, Governor Rocha said that talks would begin on Thursday and thanked the farmers for allowing the airport’s service to resume.
Protestors were angry at a perceived lack of government support for grain producers. Sinaloa is the largest producer of corn in Mexico. (Twitter)
Around 200 farmers from across Sinaloa have blocked entry roads to the Bachigualato airport on Tuesday, demanding a raise in the guaranteed minimum price of grain. Protesters want 7,000 pesos per ton of corn, 8,000 pesos per ton of wheat and 6,500 per ton of sorghum. They are also calling for a government purchase program to buy 3.5 million tons of excess grain.
The government food security program Segalmex currently guarantees prices of 6,805 pesos per ton of corn and 7,480 pesos per ton of wheat but only to small farmers with no more than five hectares of seasonal crops. In May, Segalmex launched a program to buy one million tons of white corn from Sinaloa farmers at 6,595 pesos per ton, if they have up to 10 hectares of crops.
The protests affected57 commercial flights. Aeromexico announced that it would allow affected passengers to change flights with no fees, while Volaris invited affected passengers to change their flights to nearby Mazatlán or Los Mochis. Viva Aerobus canceled several flights and asked for patience from passengers without announcing any protection schemes.
Despite the lifting of the blockade, services at the airport remained suspended on Thursday, with passengers advised not to go to the airport unless necessary.
Despite the end of the blockade, commercial aviation at Culiacán International Airport has remained suspended through Thursday. (Twitter)
The airport blockade is the latest in a series of protests by the state’s grain producers through May and early June. As Mexico’s largest corn-producing state, Sinaloa has been hard hit by a 50% collapse in global grain prices over the last 18 months after Ukraine grain exports resumed.
Analysts have warned that Mexico’s current grain market prices will leave many farmers unable to recoup their investment in this year’s production. If these farmers go bankrupt, it could fuel further inflation for food prices in Mexico into 2024.
During his daily press conference on Thursday, President López Obrador said he would not negotiate with the protesters, as they’d hoped.
“Our government does not allow blackmail,” he told reporters. “We are not going to give in, even if they have the airport, and also for their peace of mind, we are not going to use public force. I am very sorry because it affects those who use the airport, those who need to travel, but our government does not allow blackmail and even less from people accustomed to corruption.”
López Obrador also expressed doubts about the authenticity of the protests, speculating that his political enemies were instigating them and that the protesters were “elite” farmers used to getting subsidies from previous administrations’ programs.
López Obrador’s administration emphasizes small- and medium-scale farmers through the Producción para el Bienestar (Production for Well-Being) program, but has no supports for larger-scale farmers.
Governor Rocha hasexpressed more sympathy for the protesters but asked them to redirect their protests toward the large agricultural corporations who, he claimed, are to blame for the situation.
“Let’s go together to protest against those truly responsible for your crops going to waste: [agricultural corporations] Gruma, Cargill and Minsa,” hewrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “I am your ally and side by side with you, I will demand fair treatment and a fair price for your work.”
When asked whether he would take the governor at his word, the protesters’ leader Arnoldo Verdugo Aguilar told local media that further action would be decided during Thursday’s meeting.
Despite lower numbers of tourists, visitors to Mexico are spending more in the country. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)
Mexico’s tourism economy is booming once again, with revenue in the first third of 2023 far surpassing pre-pandemic levels, despite total tourist numbers still lagging.
International tourism contributed US $10.74 billion to Mexico’s economy between January and April 2023, according to INEGI, Mexico’s national statistics agency. This figure is 17% higher than the same period of 2022, and 17.5% higher than the same period of 2019.
After the downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, international tourism in Mexico is bouncing back with a 17.5% increase in revenue this year compared to the first four months of 2019. (Secturjal/Twitter)
However, despite the good financial news, the total number of tourists arriving in Mexico has remained slightly lower than before the pandemic in 2019. The 13.24 million tourists who visited Mexico in these four months represented a 13.7% increase from the previous year but a slight drop from the 14.7 million tourists who visited in the first third of 2019.
Average spending per tourist has risen by 3.8% from 2022 and 14% from 2019, reaching US $1,198 in the first third of this year for international tourists arriving by air. Air arrivals are also up — by 10.4% from 2022 and 6.6% from 2019 — compensating for a drop in tourists arriving by land, who tend to spend less.
Even in the cruise sector, which was extremely hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism numbers are strong. According to the Tourism Ministry (Sectur), 3.73 million cruise passengers arrived at Mexican ports between January and April — 3.1% more than in 2019. The revenue from these cruise tourists jumped 22.3% from 2019 to reach US $306.8 million.
In apress release, Sectur declared that these numbers show that “tourism activity in Mexico is on track.” Tourism is a crucial component of Mexico’s economy, representing just over8% of the country’s GDP every year from 2010 to 2019.
Mexico’s borders never closed during COVID-19. Although tourist numbers nearly halved during the pandemic year of 2020, Mexico remained the third most visited country worldwide, and the industry has rapidly bounced back as international restrictions have lifted.
In 2022, the World Tourism Organization ranked Mexico ninth worldwide in foreign exchange capture from international visitors, and 28th place in per capita spending by international tourists.
Mexican trust in news has declined from 50% to 36% since 2019, according to a study by the U.K.-based Reuters Institute. (Foto de Sergio Gonzalez en Unsplash)
President López Obrador’s frequent verbal attacks on the press could be a factor in a marked decline in trust in the news among Mexicans, according to a U.K.-based research center and think tank.
In its 2023 Digital News Report, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism said that trust in the news has declined to 36% in Mexico from 50% in 2019, the president’s first full year in office. Just over 2,000 Mexicans were surveyed for the study.
President López Obrador is seen here at a morning press conference discussing journalist Carlos Loret de Mola, who is frequently critical of the administration. ( Moisés Pablo Nava / Cuartoscuro.com)
The Reuters Institute (RI) said that López Obrador’s “repeated attacks against news companies may have impacted the steady decline in trust in the news over the last few years.”
The president’s “daily verbal attacks” on the media have increased in the past year “as he has continued to use his morning addresses, known as the mañaneras, to pursue his agenda,” RI said.
“Notable journalists including Carmen Aristegui, a host on CNN en español, war correspondent and radio host Carlos Loret de Mola, and commentator Victor Trujillo [better known as the clown Brozo] have all been targeted by the president, as have numerous domestic and international outlets.”
López Obrador asserted Tuesday that “it’s more than proven” that the majority of media outlets “manipulate” information and “are at the service of the oligarchy,” or Mexico’s powerful elite.
Ana García Vilchis during a “Who’s who in the lies of the week” segment of the morning press conference last year. (Moisés Pablo Nava / Cuartoscuro.com)
“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,” he told reporters.
A government spokesperson presents a fake news exposé segment at López Obrador’s Wednesday mañaneras during which she routinely criticizes individual journalists and media organizations for their allegedly false or biased coverage.
RI acknowledged that 180 Mexican journalists signed a letter late last year demanding an end to the government harassment. It also said that three journalists were murdered in Mexico in the first three months of the year.
“Human rights organisation Article 19 says that the Mexican government has developed a ‘strategy of disinformation’ while claiming to have created greater transparency and accountability,” RI said.
“This has happened, it says, while legal access to public sources of information has, in effect, been curtailed. [Article 19] also claims that about a quarter (26.5%) of the public information provided by government authorities was false.”
Published on Wednesday, the Reuters Institute’s report also noted that “TV and print have become gradually less important over time for our online sample, with social media widely used across age groups.”
“Mexicans are heavy users of social media, with YouTube and TikTok growing fastest for news,” it added.
Among 15 news outlets including the generic “local newspaper,” CNN was found to be the most trustworthy in Mexico, with 68% of respondents saying they trusted it.
El Universal, Milenio and Imagen ranked equal second with a trust level of 62%. Three in 10 respondents indicated that they didn’t trust Noticieros Televisa, making that outlet the least trustworthy. An additional 21% said they neither trusted nor mistrusted the news division of the broadcasting behemoth Televisa.
The oppressive heatwave currently sweeping Mexico shows no signs of letting up, scientists warn. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
Scientists and researchers from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) said at a press conference on Wednesday that a fourth heat wave could hit the country as soon as July 1, while the current heat wave sweeping over Mexico may continue for another 10 to 15 days.
According to Dr. Víctor Manuel Torres, a researcher at UNAM’s Institute of Atmosphere Sciences and Climate Change (ICAyCC), meteorological models foresee the possibility of an upcoming heat wave similar in intensity to the one currently bringing temperatures in the 30s and even 40s Celsius (80 to more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit) in 30 of Mexico’s 32 states.
July is expected to see a number of cyclones in southeastern Mexico, which could contribute to another heatwave next month. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
Meteorological models are already forecasting two cyclones in southeastern Mexico that could precipitate more high temperatures around the beginning of July. They also show zero probability of rain clouds anywhere else, meaning that Mexico’s drought conditions could continue longer than experts anticipated.
A study of weather patterns in Mexico City from 1880 to 2005 shows that the months of April and May are usually the hottest in the capital, followed by March and June. Heat waves usually don’t last longer than three or six days — any heat wave over 10 days is extremely rare, said scientist Graciela Binimelis.
Binimelis added that low levels of soil humidity have also exacerbated the situation, lengthening heat waves and causing “severe and extreme drought.” These extreme conditions have also caused “atypical” widespread forest fires, she said.
She also said that heat waves in the cities tend to be more intense — almost two degrees more than in the countryside — owing to buildings and human activities. This phenomenon is known as the “island of heat.” High temperatures in the cities can also result in increased ozone pollution, she said.
Marcelo Castro Vera is a "rebel" making wines using the ancient technique of fermentation in clay pots in the mountains of Guanajuato . (Photos by Mukasha Dadajonova)
Glasses clink and chatter echoes around the farm as the moon rises over a family gathering in Vergel de la Sierra, San Felipe, Guanajuato. A young Marcelo Castro Vera watches as his family toasts the Sunday night to a close. He enjoys the wine they are drinking, but what fascinates him is not the maroon “juice”, but how it has brought the people around him together.
Thirty years on and the very same landscape where a young Marcelo sat around a table with his family is now the birthplace of one of Mexico’s most exciting natural wines.
Octágono’s selection of natural wines is made using wild fermentation, with no added sugars or yeasts.
Founded in 2016, Octágono is a small winery that is ambitious, rebellious and fiercely honest. It’s located on the grounds of El Nidal, a shipping container hotel Marcelo built on his family’s land, and produces wines that are sharp, punchy and full of energy. Octágono’s wines embody the man behind the brand.
Many have called his process of making natural wine radical. His curiosity and inventive spirit saw him become the first contemporary Mexican winemaker to produce natural wine in buried clay amphora pots as it was made thousands of years ago in ancient Rome.
“The goal is to let the grape express itself with absolutely no human interpretation,” he says. “We use four basic processes executed without any technological intervention or machinery.”
Grapes are picked by hand and then smashed by foot. It’s“messy work and not glamorous,” Marcelo says. Pressing grapes by foot promotes wild fermentation, with no industrial yeast or sugars needed. The gloopy juice is then macerated in buried clay pots and hand-pressed with rustic utensils up to nine months later.
The process followed by Marcelo and his team is an ancient one.
I ask whether his radical reputation is deserved. To me, it seems fueled by a rapidly evolving technological world in which insisting on creating a product without machinery is seen as “alien.”
Marcelo nods with a smile, but he sees himself more as a “rebel.”
“I think radical is too strong,” he says. “We do things differently here, and I believe we’re the first in Mexico to produce natural wine completely by hand. When we first started working on the idea to produce our own wine here, we talked for hours and hours about how we could ensure the product was natural and true to our belief that nature should do the majority of the work.”
“In our region, pottery is one of the most important local crafts,” he continues. “We talked about fermenting our wine in local pots, very similar to how Georgians use kvevris. That’s the path we went down, and I’m delighted about it. We use beautiful clay pots handmade by artisans from San Felipe and Dolores Hidalgo, which has helped bring more attention to another centuries-old craft.”
Octágono uses clay pots handcrafted in San Felipe and Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato.
Blending ancient multicultural crafts with grapes grown in the fertile soil of central Mexico produces a collection of distinct natural wines which are undoubtedly Mexican, but infused with classical techniques from Europe.
I ask about his opinion of conventional modern wine in Mexico. A few weeks prior to our conversation, a Mexican white wine was crowned the highest-scoring “international revelation” at the Concours Mondiale de Bruxelles (CMB).
“I don’t drink conventional wine and so I can’t really judge it,” Marcelo says. “To me, it’s dead and boring compared to the energy and life of natural wine. There are thousands of conventional producers all following very similar guidelines on how to produce wine but only a fraction of them are creating natural wine. I don’t like to follow the crowd or be a sheep in anything I do. I’m only happy with my process when I’m going against the grain.”
Marcelo guides guests through a tasting at his popular San Miguel de Allende tasting room.
Much like his wine, Marcelo is unfiltered. It seems to me that someone as punchy and determined as he is, lovingly dubbed the “crazy professor” by friends and family, needs a close team to help guide his creativity. He agrees.
“My wife, Mukasha is the most important person to me and for the business,” he says, “Our small success here is probably more down to her than me! She is smart, ambitious, creative. She also knows exactly when to tell me to keep my feet on the ground and not move in a bad direction.”
A professional photographer, Mukasha Dadajonova was born in Uzbekistan, the main wine-producing country in central Asia. She is also a firm advocate for fermenting wine in clay pots, a millennia-old technique used in nearby Georgia. The couple met while studying hospitality in Switzerland.
Marcelo and Octágono’s sommelier, Celia Morales, make a dynamic duo.
If Mukasha is Octágono’s compass, then Celia Morales steers the ship. As head sommelier, Celia handles the everyday demands of the winery, something all the more vital when you’re producing natural wine manually.
“We’re a small team, but we’re furiously committed to our values and making the wine we want to make,” Morales says. “We’re not people-pleasers but we love bringing people together to try our wine and food.”
Indeed, the brand’s 40-square meter tasting room, Tenerías #2, situated in the heart of cosmopolitan San Miguel de Allende, has become a very popular destination for locals, visitors and expats. Marcelo tells me it’s fully booked almost every day of the week.
Industrialization has no doubt increased efficiency, but at what cost? We’re on the cusp of a new generation of machine-learning, which will dramatically change our everyday working lives. Bucking technological progress may seem rebellious today, but people like Marcelo, Mukasha and Celia are playing a key role in conserving the best of tradition in a competitive, fast-moving world.
Gordon Cole-Schmidt is a public relations specialist and freelance journalist, advising and writing on companies and issues across multi-national communication programs.
