DIY heaven: Parisina makes it easy to be creative

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September 14, 2023

volha-flaxeco-omgRZCmTvUM-unsplash (1) — Explore Mexico's Vast Fabric Wonderland with Grupo Parisina: 90 Years of Quality Fabrics, Sewing Supplies, and More! (Volha Flaxeco/Unsplash)

With more than 600 stores throughout Mexico and online sales, Grupo Parisina is the country’s most extensive fabric and hobby chain. If you’ve ever been in one, you’ve experienced the gigantic, somewhat puzzling selection of items and either loved or hated it. Started in Mexico City 90 years ago, in 1933, Grupo Parisina keeps a close eye on its clientele and continually updates and expands its offerings to keep them happy.

Most of Parisina’s business is from fabric (tela), sold both retail and wholesale. There can be hundreds of options at any given store, from delightful seasonal prints and playful children’s designs to nubby 100% cotton manta and elegant dress fabrics suitable for a special occasion or New Year’s soiree. Bear in mind that fabrics appear several months before a holiday or season to allow home seamstresses time to sew their creations. That also means you’ll often find big lines of shoppers—or even crowds—when the date gets close to Mexico’s Dia de la Independencia or the Christmas season.

Parisina sells everything needed for sewing: buttons, thread, zippers, embroidery supplies, even sewing machines. It also carries many lines of upholstery and curtain fabrics, some of them imported. Through its complete website, you can pay with credit cards, debit cards, bank transfers, or PayPal. According to the website, the company ships throughout Mexico via Estafeta, with packages usually arriving within a week.

One of the very best things about Parisina is that if you buy curtain fabric, their crew of local maquiladoras will make the curtains for a small charge. You’ll see samples of curtain styles hanging above the bolts of fabric, and employees will assist you in making your order and getting the right amount of fabric for your windows. (Packaged, ready-made curtains and a big selection of curtain rods are also available.)

While there may not be any Hobby Lobby or JOANN stores in Mexico (yet!), Parisina offers many options for DIYers. Like its U.S. counterpart, shelves are filled with craft supplies of every kind, including beading materials, felt (in squares or by the meter), high-quality artificial flowers and plants, glass vases, and wooden boxes of every size. Also abundant are bolts of beautiful Mexican oilcloth in a wide range of patterns and colors.

Mixed in these aisles are assorted home décor items offering fairly satisfying “retail therapy” if you’re missing the options you’re used to north of the border. I’ve found Parisina to be one of the best places to find well-made, attractive and affordable wood picture frames; the ready-made throw pillows can be helpful either as-is or re-cover, and even some throw rugs are OK. You can also find everything you need for a party, with themed items you won’t find elsewhere.

Parisina sells everything needed for sewing: buttons, thread, zippers, embroidery supplies, even sewing machines. (Pina Messina/Unsplash)

One caveat: Getting fabric cut and paying for it can be pretty bewildering and a lesson in extreme patience, especially if the store is crowded. Unlike the U.S., where you take your bolt of fabric to a central cutting table, have it cut, then take the cloth and receipt to a central cash register, usually by the exit, to pay, at Parisina, there are different (and I would say less efficient) multi-step processes.

Usually, two lines form by a central cutting table area; signs hang from the ceiling instructing customers to make their order at one and pick up their order at the other. If you can, bring the bolt of fabric to the first line; otherwise, when it’s your turn, ask the employee to go with you to get it. They will calculate the cost of the amount of fabric you want, give you a receipt, and put the uncut bolt of fabric in a nearby “corral.” You, the customer, then must pay at the cashier, which is usually hidden in some corner of the store that’s not near the exit. After paying and getting a second receipt, you make your way back to the second line at the cutting table, present your new receipt, and have your fabric cut. Voila! (Bring your own bag as often they do not provide them.)

In other Parisina stores I’ve visited or during the busy holiday season, the process is different but equally confusing. You bring the bolt of fabric to a cutting table, where an employee cuts it and gives you a receipt. They then take your cut fabric to a central pick-up counter elsewhere in the store. Meanwhile, using the first receipt, you pay at a central cashier, which is near the fabric pick-up if you’re lucky. A second receipt will be stapled to the first and off you go to get your already cut and bagged fabric.

Sounds straightforward, you say? Add 12 or more people in each line with specific problems, multiple bolts of fabric, and innumerable questions, and you get more of a realistic picture. It helps to think of it as comedy.

Be that as it may, Parisina offers DIYers a big bang for their proverbial buck—or peso, as the case may be.

For more information: Visit your local Parisina store, although employees may not be familiar with everything offered online at www.laparisina.mx. Don’t see what you’re looking for? Contact Parisina at [email protected].

Janet Blaser is the author of the best-selling book, Why We Left: An Anthology of American Women Expats, featured on CNBC and MarketWatch. She has lived in Mexico since 2006. You can find her on Facebook.

UFO expert presents ‘alien corpses’ in Mexican Congress

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MND Staff

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September 14, 2023

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Jaime Maussan and others around an alleged alien corpse — Journalist Jaime Maussan drew global attention after testifying on extraterrestrial activity to the Chamber of Deputies and presenting what he alleged to be the corpses of aliens found in Peru. (Cuartoscuro.com)

A Mexican journalist and self-described ufologist made quite a revelation during testimony in front of Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies this week — two specimens that he claimed were the 1,000-year-old corpses of extraterrestrials.

“These are not mummies,” Jaime Maussan said under oath about the two tiny bodies with big heads, long necks and three fingers on each hand. The bodies – which resemble the archetypal depiction of a gray alien – were found in Peru in 2017, Maussan said, adding that carbon dating by Mexico’s National Autonomous University (UNAM) showed they died a millennium ago. “We are not alone,” Maussan, 70, intoned.

Jaime Maussan with alleged alien corpse — Jaime Maussan is a fixture of Mexico’s ufologist community, having hosted a television show about the subject since 2005. (Cuartoscuro.com)

The extraordinary testimony heard by lawmakers on Tuesday in Mexico City was Mexico’s first ever hearing on UFOs, which these days are usually termed Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), or FANI in Spanish. Mexico has a high rate of reported UAP sightings, ranking seventh in the world in 2020.

Maussan insisted that the specimens, which were brought into the chambers in two caskets, are not related to any life on Earth. “There is a clear demonstration that we are dealing with non-human specimens that are not related to any other species in our world, and that all possibilities are open for any scientific institution to investigate,” he said.

Similar finds presented by Maussan and others in the past have been dismissed by scientists as ancient Peruvian mummies, mummified children or manipulated mummies. Maussan stated that the two corpses at the hearing are not mummies, but rather “bodies that are intact, complete, that have not been manipulated inside and that have a series of elements that make them truly extraordinary.”

Maussan, who has hosted a television show on UAP since the early 2000s, claimed the alleged aliens had big brains and big eyes that “allowed for a wide stereoscopic vision,” and that they lacked teeth, so they likely only drank and did not chew.

Screen capture of congressional hearing — One of the presenters at the hearing discussed the “non-human” specimens. (Screen capture)

The hearing in the Legislative Palace of San Lázaro — at which lawmakers were also shown videos of Mexican pilots struggling to make sense of fast-moving flying objects before them — included experts speaking in support of Maussan. But some who spoke felt Maussan’s claims were an “unsubstantiated stunt” and “a huge step backwards for this issue.”

For example, Ryan Graves, executive director of Americans for Safe Aerospace (ASA) and a former U.S. Navy fighter pilot, was invited to speak. In July, he testified in front of a U.S. Congress subcommittee investigating the existence of UAP.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he said he accepted the invitation “hoping to keep up the momentum of government interest in pilot experiences” with UAP. But a day after the hearing, he distanced himself from it.

“Unfortunately, yesterday’s demonstration was a huge step backwards for this issue,” he wrote. “My testimony centered on sharing my experience and the UAP reports I hear from commercial and military aircrew through ASA’s witness program. I will continue to raise awareness of UAP as an urgent matter of aerospace safety, national security, and science, but I am deeply disappointed by this unsubstantiated stunt.”

Jaime Maussan and other invitees address the Chamber of Deputies — Maussan was joined by fellow Mexicans, including a Navy surgeon, and foreign ufologists like retired U.S. Navy pilot Ryan Graves. (Jaime Maussan/X)

And then there was José de Jesús Zalce Benítez, director of the Scientific Institute for Health of the Mexican Navy, who said X-rays, 3D reconstruction and DNA analysis had been carried out on the remains.“I can affirm that these bodies have no relation to human beings,” he told the lawmakers.

In light of the hearing, UNAM reissued a statement from 2017 saying the work by its National Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry with Accelerators (LEMA) was only intended to determine the age of the samples. “In no case do we make conclusions about the origin of said samples,” the statement said.

Maussan’s presentation created a whirl of activity on social networks, with backlash and criticism from skeptics. NASA indicated it would discuss the briefing on Thursday.

With reports from El Financiero, El Universal, NPR and Reuters

Heineken to invest 8.7 billion pesos in new Yucatán plant

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Cat Rainsford

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September 14, 2023

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Heineken unveiling — Executives from Heineken Mexico, Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro (center) and Yucatán Governor Mauricio Vila (second from left) attended the announcement of the 8.7 billion peso investment. (Economia Mexico/X)

Dutch brewer Heineken is to build a new beer production plant in Yucatán, with an investment of 8.7 billion pesos (US $510 million).

Construction is projected to begin in 2024, in the municipality of Kanasín, part of the Mérida metropolitan area. The factory will begin operations in early 2026 and is expected to generate 2,000 jobs, according to Guillaume Duverdier, CEO of Heineken Mexico.

Heineken GDL — Heineken already operates seven other breweries in Mexico, including this one in Guadalajara. (Heineken Mexico)

Duverdier explained that the plant will initially supply the Mexican domestic market with popular local brands, including Tecate, Sol, Dos Equis, Bohemia, Indio and Carta Blanca, and eventually hopes to export abroad.

He said that the location was chosen to bring the company’s products closer to consumers in southeastern Mexico, responding to the “solid growth potential” of the Mexican market.

It will be the company’s eighth plant in the country – adding to facilities in Orizaba, Monterrey, Tecate, Navojoa, Guadalajara, Toluca and Chihuahua – but the first in the southeast. The company already employs some 18,000 people in Mexico.

Kanasín was selected following a detailed feasibility study that evaluated local economies, security, connectivity and natural resource availability across the country, finding Yucatán to be the ideal location.

Heineken Mexico Guillaume Duverdier — Heineken Mexico chief Guillaume Duverdier said the new plant will primarily produce local brands for the Mexican market. (Heineken Mexico)

Heineken is one of several breweries turning their sights towards southern Mexico. In 2020, U.S.-based Constellation Brands was forced to walk away from a US $1.4 billion brewery already under construction in Mexicali and relocate the facility to Veracruz, after farmers in Baja California expressed concerns that the project would exacerbate water shortages in the drought-stricken region.

Heineken inaugurated its most recent Mexican plant five years ago in Meoqui, Chihuahua, with an investment of US $500 million. The company claims that the plant follows strong sustainability principles to minimize water usage, operating under a strict waste reduction policy and using sustainable energy sources.

Despite the relative abundance of water in southeastern Mexico, Heineken says that the new Yucatán plant will follow these same environmental principles, aiming to use just two liters of water per liter of product.

With reports from El Financiero and Expansión México

Peso bounces back, gaining 3% on US dollar in a week

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MND Staff

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September 14, 2023

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Mexican pesos — The peso went from 17.6 to the US dollar one week ago, to 17.08 this Thursday afternoon.

What a difference a week can make.

One US dollar was worth 17.6 pesos at the close of trading last Thursday and there was talk that the USD:MXN rate could go to 18 in the short term.

But at 1 p.m. Mexico City time this Thursday, one greenback was trading at 17.08 pesos, a depreciation of 3% in the space of a week.

The peso’s improved position comes after gains against the greenback on four consecutive days this week. According to a Reuters report, the peso has rallied on expectations that the United States Federal Reserve’s monetary policy tightening cycle has come to an end.

The Fed is due to make its next interest rate decision next week, and will have to consider fresh data that shows that annual inflation in the United States rose to 3.7% in August from 3.2% in July.

Analysts cite the Bank of Mexico’s high benchmark interest rate – currently 11.25% – and the significant difference between that rate and that of the Fed (5.25%-5.5%) as one factor that has benefited the peso this year.

Banco de México building — Mexico’s central bank has kept the benchmark interest rate high all year, which is one reason for a stronger peso according to experts. (Archive)

Strong incoming flows of foreign capital and remittances are among the other factors cited. The peso reached its strongest level of 2023 – and in almost eight years – in late July when it was trading at 16.62 to the dollar.

Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings on Wednesday increased its forecast for 2023 economic growth in Mexico to 3.1% from 2.5% in June. The rating agency anticipates that Mexico’s GDP will expand 1.8% in 2024 and 2.3% in 2025.

As for inflation in Mexico, the annual headline rate has declined every month since February, reaching 4.64% in August, its lowest level since early 2021.

With reports from Reuters and Aristegui Noticias

US restores Mexico’s aviation safety rating to Category 1

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MND Staff

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September 14, 2023

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Plane on the runway of a Mexican airport — The FAA made the official announcement of reinstating Mexico's Category 1 status on Thursday, after President López Obrador alluded to it last week. (Gobierno de QRO)

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has reinstated Mexico’s Category 1 aviation safety rating more than two years after it was downgraded to Category 2.

The FAA announced the decision in a statement on Thursday, noting that it came after “more than two years of close work between the civil aviation authorities in both countries.”

AFAC meeting — The transportation minister Jorge Nuño Lara (center) received the document restoring Mexico’s Category 1 rating from Andrew Crecelius Villalobos (right) of the U.S. State Department. (AFAC/X)

“With a return to Category 1 status, Mexico can add new service and routes to the U.S., and U.S. airlines can resume marketing and selling tickets with their names and designator codes on Mexican-operated flights,” the Washington D.C.-based agency said.

President López Obrador said last Friday that his government had been informed that the FAA had decided to reinstate the Category 1 rating. He noted that the decision would be formalized this week.

The FAA said that it “provided expertise and resources via technical assistance agreements” to Mexico’s Federal Civil Aviation Agency “to resolve the safety issues that led to the downgrade.”

“The agency sent a team of aviation safety experts multiple times over the last two years to assist with the work,” the FAA said, noting that it downgraded Mexico’s rating in May 2021 after it found that “the country did not meet International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) safety standards.”

Interior Minister Luisa Alcalde at the Monday morning press conference. (MARIO JASSO/CUARTOSCURO.COM)

Interior Minister Luisa María Alcalde said Monday that the recovery of the top-tier rating was possible thanks to “various actions” carried out by Mexico including “some legislative changes” and “the order that is being put in place at different airports.”

Mexican airlines’ inability to add new flights to the U.S. over the past two years is one factor that has inhibited growth at the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA), which opened north of Mexico City in early 2022.

Airlines such as Aeroméxico and Volaris will likely add flights from AIFA to U.S. destinations now that they are able to do so.

Mexico News Daily

7 award-winning boutique wineries you should know in Guanajuato

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Lydia Carey

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September 13, 2023

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If you still haven’t heard about wine in Guanajuato, you aren’t listening. Already home to so many great destinations – Guanajuato City, San Miguel de Allende, Mineral de Pozos – the state now boasts many excellent wineries. Guanajuato’s long history of wine-making means even the Father of Independence, Miguel Hidalgo, had his own vineyard in Dolores in the 18th century. While most of the state’s wineries were built at some point in the last 40 years, there is still lots of history and tradition along the Guanajuato wine route. If you want to go exploring and are at a loss for where to start, here’s a quick list of some of the area’s best small wineries with award-winning vintages.

Cuna de Tierra

This is one of the area’s oldest vineyards and most respected. The winemakers at Cuna de Tierra have provided so much support and have been so influential to other area vineyards you might call them the grandfathers of the region’s wine. Dozens of awards later, Cuna de Tierra is nonetheless very down to earth and the staff and sommeliers are highly approachable, even for the uninitiated.

Located on a gorgeous piece of land outside of Dolores Hidalgo, this vineyard has a great small plates restaurant, a tasting room, and property tours. In addition to their wine, they’ve won awards for the striking architecture of the vineyard, particularly the Torre de Tierra. Standing in the center of their rows of vines, designed by architects Ignacio Urquiza Seoane and Bernardo Quinzaños Oria.

Bodega San Jose Lavista

Producing award-winning bottles, Bodega San Jose Lavista sits just outside of San Miguel de Allende, on the edge of the city’s dam. The vineyard’s Merlot-Malbec Assemblage won a Grand Gold at the 2022 edition of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles’ México Selection, where they also racked up three other gold medals for their 2020 Malbec, 2020 Merlot, and 2019 Malbec.

The property’s grand hacienda is a new construction (2010) that uses traditional building methods and styles in its design, giving it a blend of old and new that many visitors find charming, if not sometimes a tad baroque. The 14 suites spread throughout the property are modern with vintage touches, and the vineyard is a trendy spot for weddings.

Viñedo Los Arcángeles

Owner Ulises Ruiz Mariño, a winemaker himself, is very obviously passionate about his trade. Stop to visit his vineyard outside of Dolores Hidalgo, and the former food engineer will go deep into his process and his philosophy of letting the grapes speak for themselves. Ruiz has won gold and silver medals for his wines at the México Selection Awards and a Grand Gold at the 2021 Concours Mondial de Bruxelles.

The winery is bite-sized and lovely, with most of the drinking and dining al fresco at picnic tables under a breezy awning in the center of the property. Stay in one of their eight rustic cabins amid the vines for true immersion.

Tres Raíces

Since Tres Raíces opened in 2018, they have quickly won the respect of neighboring vineyards, local wine lovers and the world with their tobacco-laced Cabernets and juicySauvignon Blancs. Their Pinot Noir 2021 won a Grand Gold at the 2023 Concours Mondial de Bruxelles and their Tempranillo 2020 a silver in the same contest.

Tres Raíces has one of the classiest wineries on this list, with a full-service luxury boutique hotel on the property, complete with a swimming pool and a selection of suites that feel more like tiny country homes than hotel rooms. With wine tastings, property tours and a meat-heavy menu that reflects the northern Mexico roots of the winery’s owners, Tres Raíces is a delightful day trip from either San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato City, or Dolores Hidalgo.

Viñedo San Miguel

This sprawling estate is a sister vineyard to the organic Villa Petriolo in Italy, operated by the same owners so that you can find wines from both vineyards in the wine shop on the property. Despite its youth, Viñedo San Miguel has won awards at the Decanter World Wine Awards, Concours Mondial de Bruxelles and the México Selection of the Concours Mondial.

The winery has dramatic spaces, miles of vines, and a breezy and sophisticated terrace restaurant that provides visitors with 180-degree views of the surrounding landscape. Their kitchen, led by Chef David Quevedo, offers haute versions of traditional Mexican dishes with exactly the kind of wine pairing list you’d expect from an award-winning vineyard.

La Santísima Trinidad

Fields of lavender and rows of grapes greet you as you enter this luxury real estate development and winery, meandering slowly along bucolic dirt roads less than half an hour from San Miguel de Allende. Another young winery making waves, Santísima Trinidad, won a Grand Gold in 2021 at the México Selection of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles. The vineyard produces olive oil and lavender products in addition to wine, as well as having a countryside restaurant and tasting room, horseback riding, bike tours and a great boutique hotel for a stay on the property.

Dos Buhos

Suppose you are looking for a wine experience that’s both delightful and sustainable. In that case, Dos Buhos is one of the area’s only organic wineries and its owners have a mission to consider the local ecology in everything they do. All of the vineyard’s wines are made with spontaneous fermentation and they have several exciting collaborations with other local producers in the works. The vineyard is also stepping up its cuisine. It now offers a gourmet menu that is seasonally centered and focused on local ingredients. They also have a sweeping hacienda-style tasting room and grounds that are a popular location for spring weddings.

Lydia Carey is a freelance writer and translator based out of Mexico City. She has been published widely both online and in print, writing about Mexico for over a decade. She lives a double life as a local tour guide and is the author of Mexico City Streets: La Roma. Follow her urban adventures on Instagram and see more of her work at www.mexicocitystreets.com.

How much is Tesla going to invest in Nuevo León?

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MND Staff

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September 13, 2023

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SamuelGarciaS-Twitter-Musk_850 (1) horizontal — Nuevo León Governor Samuel García (right) with Tesla CEO Elon Musk when the initial announcement was made in March. (Samuel García/X)

Nuevo León Governor Samuel García said Monday that Tesla and its suppliers will invest US $15 billion in a gigafactory project in the northern border state, an amount triple the figure previously cited by the federal government.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced in March that the electric vehicle manufacturer would build a new gigafactory in Santa Catarina, a municipality just west of Monterrey that borders Coahuila. As of last week, the Austin-based company hadn’t obtained any of the permits it requires to build and operate the facility.

Tesla gigafactory rendering for Nuevo Leon, Mexico — Rendering of the planned Tesla gigafactory in Nuevo León. (Tesla)

Speaking at an event at the La Huasteca park in Santa Catarina, García said that the Tesla factory would be much bigger than originally thought.

“The plant that we announced in March – erase it from the map. It looks like it will be twice as big,” he said.

“Tesla and its suppliers are going to generate US $15 billion of investment in two years,” García said.

“It’s an enormous amount in a very short time,” he added. García didn’t specify whether any of the $15 billion amount would go to the construction of separate facilities operated by Tesla suppliers.

Tesla itself hasn’t said how much it plans to invest in Nuevo León, which has a short border with Texas in the municipality of Anáhuac.

Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Martha Delgado said in March that the company would invest more than US $5 billion in the gigafactory and that it would employ up to 6,000 people. An unnamed Reuters source with knowledge of Tesla’s plans said at the same time that total spending could reach $10 billion, a figure that was also cited by Santa Catarina Mayor Jesús Nava.

García said Monday that authorities would be obliged to improve infrastructure in Nuevo León, such as highways and the water system, in response to Tesla’s investment. He also said security would have have to be ramped up.

It is unclear when the gigafactory – which is slated to use recycled water – will begin operations, but it appears unlikely to be finished before late 2026.

With reports from Reforma

Cancún mega mall has attracted 6,000 visitors a day since opening

By

MND Staff

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September 13, 2023

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The new outlet is now the largest luxury mall in Latin America, and expects to bring in 90,000 visitors per day. (Grand Outlet Riviera Maya)

The Grand Outlet Riviera Maya, the largest luxury outlet mall in Latin America, reported drawing some 6,000 visitors a day since its opening on Aug. 31.

Located near the beach opposite Moon Palace hotel and eight miles from Cancún International Airport, the Grand Outlet will serve as a major al fresco lifestyle destination combining shopping, dining and entertainment for the whole family.

In addition to its 185 stores and restaurants, GO’s complex has an ice rink, an amusement park, a 7,500-seat auditorium, an aquarium, a mini golf course, and a go-kart track. (Grand Outlet Riviera Maya)

“We’ve been open for a week,” the General Operations manager Vladimir Maylén told newspaper La Jornada Maya. “In the first four days, the average attendance ranged between 6,500 to 7,000 people a day,” he said, while adding that it has been an “exciting” start of the project.

Developed by GICSA, a real estate development group based in Mexico that has opened malls like La Isla Mérida, Explanada Puebla and Paseo Querétaro, Cancún’s Grand Outlet will incorporate cascades, lakes, fountains and a beach club.

With a total gross leasable area of 58,013 square meters and an investment of 2.27 billion pesos (US $129 million) the Grand Outlet boasts 185 tenants that include luxury brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Carolina Herrera, Armani, Purificación García, Ermenegildo Zegna, Hugo Boss and Adolfo Domínguez, to mention a few.

Among the food and beverage options, 25 brands like the Hello Kitty Café, Wingstop, L’Osteria Totó, Starbucks, Sash-Tao Sushi and FRANKS, will have a home at the mall.

Grand Outlet Riviera Maya hopes to become an entertainment hub in addition to a shopping center for tourists in Cancún. (Grand Outlet Riviera Maya)

Other standouts include an ice rink, an amusement park, a 7,500-seat auditorium, an aquarium, a mini golf course and a go-kart track. Some of these attractions are planned to open in the next 30 to 60 days.

The complex will also include City Express Plus, City Express Suites and NH hotels.

The last phase of the project boasts a hot air balloon and an artificial lake to consolidate GICSA’s concept of “mall-tainment.”

With 70% of the shopping mall meant for retailers and 30% for dining and entertainment venues, developers told El Sol de México that Grand Outlet is expected to draw tourists and residents alike to experience a revolutionary concept in the Riviera Maya’s entertainment industry.

“It will surely be a project that will help tourism and will also strengthen the [entertainment] offer for residents,” Quintana Roo’s Minister of Tourism Bernardo Cueto Riestra told La Jornada Maya.

A rendering captures the intended vibe of Grand Outlet Riviera Maya, which is described as “mall-tainment.” (GICSA)

While 75% to 78% of the total leasable area has been let out, 47 shops have already opened and the remaining ones are expected to open soon. Once all the shops are up-and-running, the Grand Outlet expects an attendance of around 90,000 people per day.

Mall executives predict all retail stores will be open by December, when the mall is expected to employ around 5,000 people.

Finally, Maylén added that weekends will come along with surprises for all visitors, including live music events and other activities.

With reports from La Jornada Maya and Retail Insight Network

The highlights from AMLO’s trip to Colombia and Chile

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MND Staff

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September 13, 2023

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2023-09-10-Presidente-AMLO-Chile-Foto-08-770x513 850px — President López Obrador with President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, at their meeting on Monday. (Lopezobrador.org.mx)

President López Obrador returned to Mexico late Monday from a four-day trip to Colombia and Chile, where he met with Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Chilean President Gabriel Boric.

It was just the sixth time in his almost five years in office that López Obrador (AMLO) embarked on an international trip.

AMLO with Gustavo Petro — President López Obrador with his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro. (lopezobrador.org.mx)

Both Petro and Boric are, like AMLO, representatives of the political left, a situation that ensured they had common ground from the get-go and added cordiality to their meetings.

López Obrador told reporters at his Wednesday morning press conference that his trip went “very well” and that the “love” and “respect” the Colombian and Chilean people have for Mexico was “confirmed.”

Here are some of the highlights and key outcomes from the time AMLO and his delegation (including Foreign Affairs Minister Alicia Bárcena) spent in the Colombian city of Cali and the Chilean capital Santiago.

Mexico and Colombia agree to tackle the causes of drug trafficking and use

Alicia Bárcena at the Latin American Conference on Drugs in Colombia — Foreign Affairs Minister Alicia Bárcena at the conference in Cali, Colombia. (SRE/X)

López Obrador touched down in Cali on an Air Force flight from Mexico City on Friday afternoon. The city where the infamous Cali Cartel was founded hosted the Latin American and Caribbean Conference on Drugs between Sept. 7 and 9.

At the conclusion of the conference, which was attended by officials from across the region, the governments of Mexico and Colombia “agreed to combat the trafficking and use of drugs” by addressing the causes of those problems, according to a statement issued by López Obrador’s office.

Representatives of the 19 countries that attended the conference also expressed their commitment to addressing the root causes of the global drug problem.

“[We have to] address the causes with new criteria, not just think about coercive measures,” López Obrador told the conference.

AMLO and Gustavo Petro — AMLO at the Cali conference with Gustavo Petro – who pulled no punches about the drug war, saying that Latin America has suffered the consequences of a “disastrous and mistaken policy” that must end. (lopezobrador.org.mx)

He highlighted the need for more licit investment in rural areas to promote the production of crops such as beans, corn and coffee over illegal ones such as marijuana and opium poppies. AMLO also said that “development with well-being” must be pursued and that particular support must be provided to young people to steer them away from a life of crime and drug use.

Mexico to export part of its “well-being model” to Colombia

Foreign Affairs Minister Alicia Bárcena, a former United Nations official and ambassador to Chile, met with her Colombian counterpart, Álvaro Leyva Durán, in Cali, and the pair signed “a letter of intent on bilateral cooperation to promote and carry out international development cooperation initiatives,” according to the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE).

Those initiatives will be pursued “through programs, projects and actions that counteract the causes of poverty and achieve greater social integration and well-being for the inhabitants of both countries,” the SRE said.

Mexico’s development agency, called Amexcid, will “provide technical assistance and support with the aim of adapting the Sembrando Vida (Sowing Life) and Jóvenes Construyendo el Futuro (Youths Building the Future) projects to Colombian public policies on sustainable agriculture and youth,” the ministry said.

Mexico has already exported its reforestation/employment scheme and youth apprenticeship program to El Salvador and Honduras.

López Obrador asserts that the two programs help combat not only the root causes of crime and violence, but also key push factors for migration such as poverty and lack of opportunity.

AMLO attends ceremony in Santiago 50 years after the death of Allende

López Obrador on Monday was among current and former world leaders who attended a ceremony at Palacio de la Moneda, the seat of executive power in Chile where former president Salvador Allende took his own life on Sept. 11, 1973 during a military coup led by general Augusto Pinochet, who established a repressive dictatorship that lasted until 1990.

AMLO and his wife Beatriz Gutiérrez — AMLO with his wife, Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, at the ceremony in Chile. (lopezobrador.org.mx)

In a brief address, the Mexican president called Allende – a socialist president who led Chile for just under three years – “the apostle of Chilean democracy” and asserted that he still “governs with his example.”

López Obrador also said that the ex-president, senator and secretary of the Socialist Party of Chile remains a “symbol of dignity for public servants in the entire world.”

Speaking alongside President Boric at La Moneda on Sunday, AMLO recalled that he was a university student when the 1973 coup occurred, and noted that he had previously studied the “Chilean process” in a political science class.

“In that class we reviewed the text The State and Revolution by Lenin, and with that theoretical framework we foresaw the terrible possibility of a coup, which was carried out on September 11, 1973 – 50 years ago. That had a great impact on me, it made a mark on me,” he said.

“The Chilean president Salvador Allende … is the foreign leader who I admire the most. … He was a humanist, a good man, a victim of swine,” López Obrador said.

Ceremony marks 50 years of “Chilean exile” in Mexico

Salvador Allende’s wife and children were among the Chileans who went into exile in Mexico during the rule of a Pinochet-led military government that rounded up, tortured and killed thousands of people.

Senator Isabel Allende Bussi, who was 28 when the coup occurred, was among the Chileans who escaped to Mexico, and who attended a ceremony at the Mexican Embassy in Santiago on Monday.

In a speech, Allende Bussi recalled that hundreds of Chileans escaped prison and torture by taking refuge in the Mexican embassy during the early days of the dictatorship. She acknowledged the “warmth, generosity and solidarity” shown by Mexicans toward Chileans who faced risks to their lives.

Salvador Allende's daughter, AMLO and Gabriel Boric — AMLO with Chile’s President Gabriel Boric (right) at a ceremony granting Allende’s daughter (left) the Order of the Aztec Eagle on behalf of her deceased father. (lopezobrador.org.mx)

Gonzalo Martínez Corbalá, Mexico’s ambassador to Chile at the time of the coup, opened the doors of the embassy to as many people as he could, Allende said.

At the ceremony, the senator accepted from López Obrador on behalf of her deceased father the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle, the highest honor Mexico bestows on foreigners.

In his address, AMLO noted that in 1973, the Mexican government and people “showed with words and actions our support for the defenders of democracy in Chile, for the victims of a coup.”

Commemoration of the Chilean coup — The commemoration of 50 years since the Chilean coup and death of Salvador Allende brought leaders from around the world to Chile. (SRE/X)

“… In those terrible times there were also coups in other Latin American countries and Mexico [also] opened its doors to a lot of people persecuted by the dictatorships in Bolivia, Uruguay, Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and other countries,” he said.

López Obrador told the Chileans in attendance that they will always be welcome to return to Mexico.

“I remind all of you of something that you already know and have lived: Mexico, like Chile, is your homeland,” he said.

Boric, who visited Mexico last November, also attended the ceremony, at which he declared that Mexicans, Chileans and Chilean Mexicans are united by “the same affection and reciprocal appreciation.”

Mexico News Daily

Endurance Motive to build Mexico’s first lithium battery plant in Puebla

By

Cat Rainsford

-

September 13, 2023

0

baterias_de_litio 850 — Puebla Governor Sergio Salomón (center left) with representatives from Endurance Motive. (Sergio Salomón/X)

Spanish company Endurance Motive will open Mexico’s first lithium battery factory in Puebla, as Mexico continues to capitalize on the booming electric vehicle industry.

Puebla governor Sergio Salomón confirmed the investment via his X social media account on Monday, after a meeting with Endurance Motive’s president, Ander Muelas. The plant will primarily supply the micro-electromobility sector. The amount of the investment has not been announced.

Endurance Motive office — The Spanish company will plan to produce its first batteries in Mexico in February or March of next year. (Endurance Motive)

“This is proof that Puebla has the best conditions for investments, and that our actions in support of electromobility are giving results,” Salomón said.

In an interview with Portal Movilidad, Endurance Motive’s Mexico director, Francisco Mollá, described Puebla as a “strategic point” for the plant, located near Mexico City and other industrial clusters.

“It is a central location between the coasts, to bring in components via the Atlantic and the Pacific,” Mollá explained.

He added that Puebla is home to an “impressive concentration” of car assembly plants, having been a leader in Mexico’s automotive industry for more than 55 years. Endurance Motive’s new plant will be located near the Volkswagen factory, which is the company’s second largest site outside of Germany.

Puebla's Volkswagen manufacturing plant — Puebla’s Volkswagen manufacturing plant, which has been in operation for over 55 years. (Volkswagen México)

Endurance Motive has also met with other potential customers, including the Mexican Association of the Photovoltaic Industry, which confirmed that there is increasing demand for lithium batteries in Mexico.

There is a small but growing domestic market for electric vehicles (EVs) in Mexico. Sales of hybrid or fully electric cars jumped by nearly 400% between 2021 and 2022, according to the national statistics agency, INEGI.

Several large automakers are also investing in EV plants in Mexico to supply the U.S. market, including a new BMW factory in San Luis Potosi and a Tesla gigafactory in Nuevo León.

“The business opportunity is very big,” Mollá told Portal Movilidad. “So far, all lithium batteries are imported from China, the United States and northern Europe. In a short time, we have participated in projects of greater size than we’ve seen in Europe in the last five years.”

He said that the company plans to be producing its first products in Mexico between February and March next year.

With reports from Forbes, Vanguardia and Portal Movilidad