A total of 33 pharmacies in Ensenada were indefinitely closed in December. Cofepris conducted the sting operation in the wake of U.S. reports that many Ensenada pharmacies were selling fentanyl-laced meds. This photo shows a similar operation by Cofepris and Mexico's Navy in Culiacán, Sinaloa, in January. (SEMAR)
Speaking at Tuesday’s presidential press conference, Cofepris director Alejandro Svarch Pérez said the other 22 pharmacies have been reopened after providing exculpatory evidence during a regulatory review.
Svarch praised Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila and the state’s Health Ministry for their assistance throughout the process while he provided an update on the government’s effort to close down clandestine pharmacies.
The Baja California case began last year when specialized Cofepris personnel in coordination with the Mexican Navy conducted spot inspections of 83 of the 300 pharmacies in the municipality of Ensenada.
The raids — dubbed Operation Albatros II – were carried out in response to reports of rising fentanyl use in Mexico and following a report by U.S. researchers that Mexican pharmacies were marketing controlled medications such as oxycodone, when in reality the pills were often fentanyl-laced fakes.
In March, the U.S. State Department issued a travel warning, noting that pills being sold at pharmacies in Mexico “may contain deadly doses of fentanyl.”
Cofepris head Alejandro Svarch Pérez. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)
In April, Expansión magazine reported that from 2018 through 2023, fentanyl-related emergencies spiked, with 43 times more people seeking treatment or arriving at emergency rooms after using fentanyl.
Fatalities from the drug are also on the rise. Mexico reported 114 fentanyl-related deaths from 2013–2022, but the total has been trending upward since 2017.
Although the numbers pale in comparison to the 80,411 opioid-related deaths in the United States in 2021 alone, the government is concerned that Mexico is transforming from a country of transit to one of drug consumption.
The adulterated drugs “are a serious health risk for anybody, but especially youth and tourists” who visit Ensenada, a popular resort area about 100 kilometers south of the U.S. border.
Demonstrating that Cofepris is taking precautions, Svarch said on Tuesday that Mexico has licensed three brands of methadone, a synthetic opioid agonist used to treat addiction to opioids. Thus far this year, Cofepris has authorized the importation of 60 kgs of methadone but says it will authorize more if necessary.
In addition to the raids and spot inspections in Baja California, Cofepris has been staging seminars for pharmacy owners and representatives to explain the regulations and help them remain in compliance.
Operation Albatros I was staged in the state of Quintana Roo and resulted in the shuttering of 53 pharmacies. In addition to finding adulterated drugs, the authorities found that several pharmacies did not have a proper license and others did not have documented suppliers.
A Maya Train passenger waits to board in Cancún. (Cuartoscuro)
Will the Maya Train railroad eventually become a popular mode of travel between beach resorts, colonial cities and archaeological sites in Mexico’s southeast?
Only time will tell, but passenger numbers so far are well below the federal government’s targets.
General Lozano gave an update on the Maya Train’s passenger numbers on Monday. (Cuartoscuro)
Óscar David Lozano Águila, an army general and general director of the Maya Train, reported on Monday that 246,929 passengers traveled on the railroad between Dec. 16, 2023 — when services between Campeche city and Cancún commenced — and July 11.
The average daily number of passengers during the railroad’s first 205 days of partial operation was 1,204.
The government has stated that it is targeting daily ridership of between 22,000 and 37,000 passengers at some point in the future. Average daily passenger numbers in the seven months since the railroad opened represented just 3-5% of those figures.
Nevertheless, Lozano was upbeat during a presentation he gave on the railroad at President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s morning press conference.
Construction continues on sections 5, 6 and 7 of the Maya Train. (Cuartoscuro)
“We’ve managed to transport almost a quarter of a million people since Dec. 16 when we began operations,” he said, adding that those passengers could fill Mexico City’s cavernous Estadio Azteca 2.6 times over.
Passenger numbers should increase when the railroad is finished
Only 4 1/2 sections of the seven-section 1,554-kilometer-long railroad are currently open.
Those sections — 1,2,3,4 and the northern part of section 5 — link Palenque, Chiapas, to Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, via the states of Tabasco, Campeche and Yucatán.
Yet to open is the southern part of Section 5 between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, and Sections 6 and 7, which will connect Tulum to Escárcega, Campeche, and include stations at Bacalar and Chetumal. López Obrador recently said that that the entire Maya Train railroad would open “at the end of August” or in “the middle of September.”
Three sections of the Maya Train have yet to open: the southern part of section 5 (shown in purple), section 6 (light green) and section 7 (blue). (Tren Maya)
Passenger numbers should increase once the entire stretch of railroad in Quintana Roo is open as it will provide an additional way to get to popular tourism destinations in the Caribbean coast state, such as Tulum and Bacalar.
The opportunity to ride the rails around the entire Maya Train loop should also attract more passengers.
The government hopes that tourists flying into Cancún will use the train to complete a journey through all five states the railroad traverses, disembarking at stations along the way to visit archaeological sites such as Chichén Itzá and Calakmul, colonial cities such as Valladolid and Campeche and coastal destinations such as Tulum. Passengers will be able to stay in six state-owned Maya Train hotels situated along the route.
This rendering depicts the Maya Train Tulum hotel, one of six currently under construction along the railroad. (Hoteles Tren Maya)
Cancún is a hugely-popular destination for international tourists, but relatively few foreigners have traveled on the Maya Train to date.
Increasing the number of trains running on the railroad should also lead to an increase in passenger numbers. The Associated Press reported that only 17 trains are currently operating, but “three times as many may eventually be added.”
Most passengers have used the railroad for short trips
Lozano presented data that showed that 43,065 people – including MND writer Lydia Carey – have completed the 857-kilometer trip from Cancún to Palenque or vice versa since January 1, the date on which rail travel between those two cities became possible.
That means that an average of just 223 passengers per day completed that journey in either direction between Jan. 1 and July 11.
Most passengers have opted to take shorter trips on the Maya Train. Trips between Cancún and Mérida, and Mérida and Campeche, have proven to be particularly popular.
How many foreigners have ridden the rails?
Lozano didn’t say how many foreigners in total have taken a trip on the Maya Train since the railroad opened last December, but he did reveal how many have completed the journey between Cancún and Palenque.
Of the 43,065 passengers to have completed that trip, 1,808 — or 4.2% of the total — were foreigners.
Will the Maya Train actually get me to where I want to go?
In her guide to travel on the Maya Train, Lydia Carey wrote about her biggest frustration with her journey by rail in southeastern Mexico.
“After eight days and seven stops, I can tell you that the biggest issue I faced was not the train itself, but the transportation infrastructure from the stations to the destinations where we stopped,” she said.
Most travelers so far on the Maya Train have taken shorter trips between destinations, not the entire 857-kilometer trip that is currently operating. (Cuartoscuro)
The problem arises because many of the stations are not very close to the destinations they serve. The station for Mérida, for example, is around 15 kilometers southeast of the center of the city in the municipality of Kanasín. Electric buses shuttle passengers between the center of the Yucatán capital and the Teya station, but onward transport at some stations in smaller destinations is not as reliable.
Passengers traveling between Cancún and Tulum will also face fairly lengthy onward journeys to get from Maya Train stations to coastal destinations, where hotels and resorts are located.
The Playa del Carmen station is located about 13 kilometers from the resort city, the Puerto Morelos station is about 10 kilometers inland and the Tulum station is around eight kilometers from the town’s hotel zone.
According to AP, “critics say there is little evidence the Cancún-Tulum line will make the [Maya Train] project profitable, because it doesn’t run particularly near any of the resort towns it is supposed to serve.”
The government decided to move the line inland in 2022 after hoteliers and members of the broader business community argued that the railroad would have an adverse impact on the coastal highway and the vehicles that use it, especially as it was being built.
The cost of the Maya Train project
A 2019 government study estimated that the railroad would cost US $8.5 billion to build, but the price tag has increased to at least $20 billion. AP reported that López Obrador’s pet infrastructure project could end up costing as much as $30 billion.
President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum with AMLO on a recent trip on the Maya Train. Sheinbaum has pledged to start freight services on the railroad during her term and possibly extend the route of the train. (Claudia Sheinbaum/X)
The president has long argued that the construction and operation of the railroad will bring economic prosperity and social wellbeing to Mexico’s disadvantaged south and southeast.
The Quintana Roo municipalities of Tulum and Felipe Carrillo Puerto are projected to see their populations increase by 447%. (@MaraLezama/X)
With massive infrastructure projects in various states of completion, the state of Quintana Roo is developing rapidly, prompting the question: Can the state handle the dramatic changes to come?
The Agrarian, Land and Urban Development Ministry (Sedatu) projects that the Quintana Roo municipalities of Tulum and Felipe Carrillo Puerto will see a 447% population increase by 2050, driven by an increase in tourism and internal migration in response to a booming labor market.
Quintana Roo was the only state in Mexico to record double-digit growth in 2023, bolstered not only by revenue from tourist destinations but by investment in the Maya Train and the new Tulum airport. (Cuartoscuro)
Improved connectivity takes Tulum to the next level
A new international airport in the resort city of Tulum opened in December 2023 and by mid-June was receiving roughly 2,000 passengers per day.
With new routes from Canada and the United States pending, Javier Diego Campillo, the director of the Tulum International Airport, expects traffic to double by the end of the year, projecting a total of 1.4 million passengers.
While the prospects for economic development seem promising, the demographic explosion likely to occur is a cause for concern. Especially when considering that 86% of the land in these two municipalities is forested.
The Sedatu report further says the population spike and the influx of tourists will require 116% more potable water, a phenomenon that will stress the region’s water supply. By 2050, Tulum and Felipe Carrillo Puerto will be producing 748 tonnes of trash and solid waste per day.
Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama is well aware of the challenges ahead. “It is essential that we carry out orderly development with an emphasis on protecting the environment,” she said in an interview with the newspaper El Financiero.
Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama has emphasized her commitment to protecting the state’s natural beauty while managing population growth in the areas surrounding Tulum. (@MaraLezama/X)
“We can’t speak of growth if it is not sustainable,” Lezama reiterated, declaring her commitment to carefully planned development. “People come to Quintana Roo primarily for its natural beauty.”
“The objective is to seek a balance between the growth and organization of our communities, to ensure basic public services and to improve the quality of life of [Quintana Roo’s] families,” Lezama wrote in a social media post on Saturday. “We are striving for orderly and sustainable growth that protects natural resources and generates social well-being.”
Environmentalists are skeptical about the development plan, however.
Sienenborn also expressed concern about how the National Water Commission (Conagua) would manage the region’s water needs, especially where wastewater is concerned.
“The expansive growth will create new problems for the public, including long-distance commutes, the demand for greater public services and a need for quality public spaces.”
Pro-choice activists celebrate the Puebla legislature's vote to become the 14th Mexican state to decriminalize abortion. (Mireya Novo/Cuartoscuro)
Puebla has become the 14th state in Mexico to decriminalize abortion.
Despite the efforts of far-right groups to disrupt Monday’s session of the Puebla state Congress, the legislative body voted 29-7, with four abstentions, to allow abortions within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
The decision to decriminalize abortion had strong support in the Congress. Puebla state Deputy Monica Silva took part in a march in the streets outside Congress in support of the measure. (Aborto Legal Puebla/Twitter)
Abortion hasn’t been a federal crime in Mexico since a 2021 ruling by the Supreme Court struck down a law criminalizing abortion in the northern state of Coahuila.
That more comprehensive ruling opened the door to accessing free, legal abortions in public health institutions across the country — although the laws in Mexico still vary by state.
Despite the federal rulings, 18 of Mexico’s 32 states have yet to fully decriminalize early-term abortions.
The states where it has been decriminalized all allow terminations up through the 12th week of a pregnancy — something that once might have seemed nearly impossible in a Catholic country where women were jailed for ending pregnancies.
Anti-abortion protesters were also out in force outside Congress before Monday’s vote to decriminalize abortion in Puebla. Some activists tried to prevent lawmakers from entering the Congress, to stop the legislative body from reaching the quorum needed to hold the vote. (Mireya Novo/Cuartoscuro)
The decision in Puebla to modify its state Constitution was received with joy by green-clad feminist activists who gathered outside.
They had been advocating for such a vote since October 2022, when a district judge in Puebla granted an injunction “so that no woman, trans man or pregnant nonbinary person, or medical personnel, who receive advice, assistance or defense from [several pro-choice] organizations is criminalized for having an abortion or helping someone to have an abortion.”
However, that achievement had limited effect, so advocates had been lobbying the Puebla Congress to change the state’s penal codes.
Those who end a pregnancy after a 12-week period in Puebla could receive prison terms of up to one year, which is similar to statutes in other states.
Before Monday’s vote, members of the National Front for the Family and others blocked both entrances into Congress in an attempt to prevent legislators from achieving quorum.
Amidst pushing and shoving, 40 of 41 legislators managed to enter with the help of activists, although the session was delayed 90 minutes. There also was a motion to remove the agenda item, but it was supported by only five National Action Party (PAN) legislators.
A day before the vote, during Mass in the Puebla Cathedral, Archbishop Víctor Sánchez Espinosa called on legislators to “not stain their hands with blood.” He reminded them that he had baptized many of their children and officiated many of their marriages.
The long and arduous movement to decriminalize abortion in Mexico received a boost in 2007 when Mexico City became the first state/entity to decriminalize abortion up to 12 weeks. That set an important precedent in Mexican law, but years of struggle and debate ensued.
That struggle continues in Jalisco, where the Information Group on Chosen Reproduction (GIRE) says that state Congress has yet to comply with a decriminalization mandate from the Jalisco-based Tribunal Colegiado, a federal court not part of the state judiciary.
The two men had traveled to Mexico City on separate flights from Paris. (@AICM_mx/X)
Two airline passengers were arrested on Sunday for attempting to smuggle illicit drugs into Mexico via a nontraditional route.
The Mexico City International Airport (AICM) said on social media that two male passengers were detained at the airport after they arrived on flights from Paris, France, with drugs including cocaine in their checked baggage.
Ayer domingo, un pasajero de nacionalidad mexicana / española, fue puesto a disposición de las autoridades por arribar en un vuelo procedente de París, Francia, con 5.3 kgs de cocaína y MDMA, transportados en su equipaje documentado.
Otro pasajero, quien arribó en… pic.twitter.com/XwPIX6vVQV
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has relied heavily on the armed forces during his six-year term, using them for a wide range of non-traditional tasks including the management of airports, ports and customs and the construction of infrastructure projects.
The Mexico City airport said that the arrests of the two alleged drug smugglers on Sunday demonstrate the “commitment” of the Navy and AICM to “stop illegal actions at our airport in order to guarantee the safety of our passengers.”
More than 10 tonnes of illegal drugs were seized at AICM in 2022 and 2023. That figure included more than 9 tonnes of methamphetamine, over 300 kilograms of fentanyl and 172 kilograms of cocaine. Most of the drugs were presumably heading out of Mexico when they were detected.
The mamá luchona has long been a target of jokes and derision in Mexico. (Tío Tíbu/X)
Welcome back, my friends! It’s time once again to take a deep dive into Mexican cultural archetypes. On today’s agenda, a whopper: what (or who) is la mamá luchona?
The name means something like “warrior mother.” It comes from the verb “luchar,” to fight or struggle. It should be noted, however, that the phrase is often used both sarcastically and contemptuously.
It would of course be totally unlike a traditional society to punch down, right? Unfortunately, Mexicans definitely do. (detochomorocho/Facebook)
What’s it used for?
Mostly to verbally roll one’s eyes at young mothers who have the nerve to be single and doing anything at all besides caring for their young. Having fun is especially frowned upon, especially if they’re poor on top of it. Take more points off if they’re having fun without their children!
Where’d it come from?
Like many memes that have suddenly taken off, it’s hard to trace the origin of the phrase. But I have two guesses. One is that it’s a phrase mothers proudly used for themselves until it was quickly co-opted.
The other is that it was born as a disrespectful phrase in the first place, which is what I’d personally put money on.
The phrase started getting very popular in the 20-teens — can we say that? — and it’s been part of the modern vernacular ever since.
Mexican motherhood in numbers
The idea of the mamá luchona is reserved especially for mothers who are not with their children’s father — the reason is unimportant. Who are these mothers?
According to INEGI, the national statistics agency, a third of them are widowed, single, separated or divorced. Approximately seven out of every 10 mothers work outside the home, and only 3% do not work outside the home or caring for their children.
Most women are either married or partnered when they give birth. The exception to this is when the mother is under 20 years old, in which case being single or separated is more common.
Mexican motherhood is still deeply tied to the concept of service and homemaking. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)
Luckily for some, not all the household’s income comes from mothers’ economic activities. Though child support is easily avoided —67.5% of mothers face the evasion of responsibility on the part of their children’s fathers — it does sometimes account for a portion of a household’s income.
If you happen to be single, however, chances are that you’re going to have to work. You might even want to try getting a better education! Doing either of these things, of course, requires childcare, and that’s not always easy to come by. Even under the best circumstances, there are still illnesses, teacher in-service days, vacations and short school days to contend with.
And though business owners complain that they can’t find enough workers,what’s on offer is hardly satisfactory and even less flexible. So one’s job requires 100% dedication, and one’s children require 100% dedication. If that’s not setting someone up for failure, I don’t know what is.
Alas, households need working people in order to meet their economic needs. Mothers lucky enough to have older female relatives around have a few more opportunities. They can work or study or both. If they also date, or have fun without their children, the conclusions of others are not kind.
“There goes another mamá luchona while her poor mother raises her kids,” is not an uncommon sentence.
Where are the dads?
If they’re honorable and responsible, men are meeting their material and emotional obligations as fathers. If they’re downright deadbeats, they’re still mostly living free of stigma. You see, the bar is quite low for fathers, and that’s true of most places in the world.
The bar for fathers in Mexico is disappointingly low, in comparison to what’s expected of women. (Depositphotos)
Lots of people fret about the reasons mothers might be single and struggling and often feel free to develop an opinion about it — usually a negative one. No one worries about why fathers might be single. Indeed, if he has to care for his children for any amount of time, the news is almost always met with sympathy rather than judgement.
They’re taking care of their kids all by themselves? But how do they do it?
Jezebel!
Dads can choose whether or not they want to be dads; moms cannot.
If a child is perceived as not well-taken care of, the question is never “Where is her father?” but “Where is her mother?” If a known mother is out by herself, the question is always, “Where’s your kid?” Fathers need not face this constant inquiry.
Especially notable: no one says to fathers, “If you didn’t want to be a father, why’d you have sex?” Why? Because the production of a child is not perceived as their problem. Taking responsibility for their actions is optional.
In the end, the very definition of privilege is the ability to avoid consequences. Mamás luchonas don’t get to do that.
So the next time you hear the phrase, remember: mothers trying to provide and care for their families deserve support and respect. Not sneers.
The group planted 3,000 pine trees over the weekend. (Red Mexicana de Organizaciones Campesinas Forestales/Facebook)
Over the weekend, a massive reforestation project led by 500 women from 10 rural communities kicked off in the Sierra Tecuani Biosphere Reserve in northern Guerrero.
The campaign “Women Protecting the Sierra Tecuani” began with the planting of thousands of pine trees on lands damaged by recent wildfires and former poppy farms that once supplied heroin producers.
The reforestation of this area will help protect local flora and fauna, including endangered species like jaguars. (Red Mexicana de Organizaciones Campesinas Forestales/Facebook)
Restoring land degraded by organized crime
Calling for the planting of 30,000 trees over 30 hectares by week’s end, the initiative aims to combat climate change, restore damaged ecosystems and rejuvenate aquifers in an area ravaged by both criminal activities and environmental degradation.
Two organizations spearheaded the project: the Sierra Region Women’s Collective and the Union of General Hermenegildo Galeana Forest Ejidos, with support in the form of a $30,000 donation from the Mesoamerican Territorial Fund (FTM). The effort also benefits from collaboration with the Mexican Network of Peasant Forest Organizations (MOCAF).
The hundreds of women and handful of men who participated were mainly from 10 ejidos — federally owned communal lands typically used by their residents for agriculture or forestry — in Guerrero’s Sierra Tecuani, a region north of Acapulco.
Communities come together to plant thousands of trees
The activities in communities such as El Balcón, Fresnos de Puerto Rico and Cordón Grande began despite rain and foggy weather. Some ejidos requested support from the Mexican army.
Participants planted as many as 3,000 pine trees over two days in several areas, such as the former poppy fields of El Balcón.
Women of all ages have joined the project to reforest 30 hectares of the Sierra Tecuani. (Red Mexicana de Organizaciones Campesinas Forestales/Facebook)
“In this area, they used to plant poppies, which was necessary for the farmers to survive,” said Emiterio Gamas Quirino of the Chamber of the Forestry Industry. Poppies helped sustain the economy of the Sierra people for more than four decades until prices fell.
The project also aims to benefit communities that are striving to heal and rebuild after many families fled to the United States due to threats and violence.
It will also help areas affected by fires, such as Filo Mayor, which in May “lost 10 hectares of good trees that we protected for many years,” said one resident.
“We are young women and women who have children,” another participant said. “We are doing this so that in the future our children will not have to battle with water [and] climate change. We would like to leave a good future for our children.”
Some of the women involved emphasized the importance of overcoming historical gender barriers and promoting communal work.
The project also aims to improve local infrastructure and access to services, which have been lacking in these remote areas.
“We hope that things will soon get better, that they will fix our roads, send us doctors and our children will study,” said one participant.
The effort is especially crucial in the Sierra Tecuani Biosphere Reserve, where it will help protect local flora and fauna, including endangered species like jaguars.
"Colima dogs" like this one were found in pre-Columbian tombs in and near the modern-day state of Colima. (Victoria Metzger/Centennial Park Conservancy)
A museum in Nashville, Tennessee, will soon be repatriating 248 pre-Columbian artifacts originally from western Mexico.
The Parthenon museum and Nashville’s Metro Parks and Recreation department worked with Mexico’s Consulate in Atlanta, Georgia, to arrange for the return of the artifacts that include small adornments, zoomorphic images, ceramic pots, musical instruments and hand tools.
The pieces will be delivered to the Institute of Anthropology and History Museum (INAH) in Mexico City later this summer, the museum explained in a press release.
The Nashville Metropolitan Council on May 7 passed an ordinance change that legally entitled The Parthenon museum to remove the pre-Columbian artifacts from its collection and return them to their country of origin.
“For Metro Parks, the repatriation of these artifacts is a cultural obligation as well as a moral responsibility,” said Metro Parks Director Monique Horton Odom. “These artifacts have value and meaning to the people of Mexico and should be housed where they will have a dynamic impact on understanding the people and culture of the past.”
How the artifacts ended up in Nashville
The Parthenon received the pre-Columbian artifacts in question in the 1960s and 1970s, as donations from Dr. John L. Montgomery and Edgar York.
Rich Montgomery, the son of Dr. Montgomery, told The Associated Press how his father came to donate the artifacts to the Nashville museum. He said he and his brother scoured the hills and villages in the state of Colima in the 1960s looking for pottery and figurines as part of a scheme to lower income taxes via museum donations.
Montgomery insists they did not smuggle the artifacts. “We would show this stuff to the Mexican authorities as we left the country, and those guys could care less about it. And when we came into the U.S., we would show it to the customs people here on this side.”
Mexico did not enforce its antiquities laws very evenly back then, admits Javier Díaz de León, the Mexican consul general in Atlanta who worked with the Nashville Parthenon on the repatriation.
The exhibit “Repatriation and Its Impact” included work by Michoacán artist José Vera González alongside the artifacts, prior to their repatriation to Mexico. (Victoria Metzger/Nashville Parthenon)
A growing awareness of artifacts’ cultural value
Díaz de León had nothing but praise for the museum and he credits the repatriation effort to the public becoming more aware of the ethical issues of keeping artifacts taken from other countries.
“It’s a greater conscience,” Díaz de León said. “People come to us … saying, ‘I got this. It came into our hands. But we don’t think we should have it. We think it belongs to the Mexican people.’”
As part of the deaccession and repatriation process, the Parthenon curated an exhibition entitled “Repatriation and Its Impact” that discussed the effects of cultural looting in the art and antiquities trade. The exhibit closed on Sunday.
Michoacán has introduced a new certification for forest-friendly avocado production. (Juan José Estrada Serafín /Cuartoscuro)
Mexico’s agricultural and agro-industrial exports increased more than 7% annually in the first five months of 2024 to reach a record high of over US $24 billion.
The federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER) reported Sunday that agricultural and agro-industrial exports generated revenue of $24.33 billion between January and May, a 7.22% increase compared to the same period of last year.
Mexico’s main export market is the United States, but Mexican agricultural/agro-industrial products are shipped worldwide.
A $4.5 billion thirst for Mexican beer and spirits
Beer — considered an agro-industrial export — was the top agricultural export between January and May, bringing in revenue of just under $2.84 billion, or 11.7% of the total. Mexico is the world’s leading exporter of beer.
Generating the second highest amount of agricultural/agro-industrial export revenue in the five-month period were tequila and mezcal, Mexico’s famous agave-derived spirit siblings. Exports of the two spirits were worth $1.73 billion between January and May, SADER said.
The export of the agave-based spirits tequila and mezcal brought in more than US $1.7 billion in the first five months of the year. (Thayne Tuason CC BY 4.0)
Beer, tequila and mezcal together generated export revenue of $4.57 billion in the first five months of the year.
Ranking third to fifth for export revenue between January and May were:
Avocados: $1.53 billion
Tomatoes: $1.49 billion
Strawberries and raspberries: $1.2 billion
SADER said that shipments of vegetables brought in 22% of overall agricultural/agro-industrial revenue. Beverages — alcoholic and non-alcoholic — accounted for the same percentage. Fruit exports generated 18% of the total export revenue.
The remainder of the revenue came from a range of products including meat, coffee and tobacco (cigarettes and cigars).
Ag exports more lucrative than tourism and oil
SADER highlighted that agricultural and agro-industrial exports brought in more foreign currency revenue than both international tourism and “the sale of petroleum products” in the first five months of the year.
Ag exports brought in more foreign currency than both oil exports and tourism. (Cuartoscuro)
Mexico records ag trade surplus of nearly $5 billion
SADER said that Mexico imported agricultural and agro-industrial products worth $19.44 billion in the first five months of 2024, a 4.04% increase compared to the same period of last year.
Mexico thus recorded a $4.89 billion agricultural trade surplus between January and May, a 22.06% annual increase.
Ag exports have been on the rise for 15 years
In 2023, the value of Mexico’s agricultural and agro-industrial exports hit a record high of almost $52 billion, a 3.9% increase compared to 2022. Exports increased for a 14th consecutive year, even as drought affected a large portion of Mexico’s territory.
The data for the first five months of 2024 shows that agricultural/agro-industrial exports are increasing for a 15th consecutive year. Based on the average monthly revenue between January and May, exports will total just under $58.4 billion this year, a figure that would represent a 12.6% increase compared to 2023.
Tropical wave No. 10 is expected to enter the Yucatan Peninsula by Monday evening, bringing abundant rainfall throughout the week. (Conagua)
Rain is in the forecast for all of Mexico’s 32 states on Monday, as tropical wave No. 10 approaches the Yucatán Peninsula.
Tropical wave No. 10 is expected to enter the Yucatan Peninsula by Monday evening, interacting with a low-pressure system in the north and humidity from the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
This weather pattern will bring thunderstorms and intermittent rains to Chiapas, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Campeche, Tabasco and Veracruz.
Intense isolated storms are also expected in Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nayarit, Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero and México state, while heavy rains — with hail and lightning likely — are forecast to hit Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Colima, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Hidalgo, Morelos and Mexico City.
Showers are forecast for Baja California, Puebla, Tlaxcala, San Luis Potosí, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, with isolated rains expected in Baja California Sur.
The National Meteorological Service (SMN) has warned residents that heavy rains may reduce visibility, cause flooding and landslides and increase river and stream levels.
Rain is forecast throughout the rest of the week as the tropical wave combines with a cold front approaching northern Mexico.
High temperatures to continue in some parts of the country
Despite the rain, some areas will continue to experience high temperatures. The maximum temperatures forecast for today are as follows:
40 to 45 degrees Celsius: Baja California, Sonora and Sinaloa.
35 to 40 degrees Celsius: Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Nayarit, Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Tamaulipas, Tabasco, Campeche and Yucatán.
30 to 35 degrees Celsius: Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Colima, southwest Puebla, Morelos, Veracruz, Chiapas and Quintana Roo.
