Thursday, July 3, 2025

Sir Paul McCartney to perform in Mexico City in November

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Paul McCartney on tour at in Mexico City
Paul McCartney has visited the Mexican capital several times, including this trip in 2012. (Sara Ortíz/Cuartoscuro)

Sir Paul McCartney will bring his Got Back Tour to Mexico this year, at Foro Sol in Mexico City on Nov. 14. 

The last time the former Beatle performed in Mexico City was in 2017, with a show at the Azteca Stadium. 

The veteran Liverpudlian (second from left) will play a selection of his solo music, as well as major hits from former bands Wings and The Beatles. (UPI)

The Got Back tour is expected to take fans across Sir Paul McCartney’s 60-year career, including dozens of songs from Paul’s solo repertoire, Wings and of course, The Beatles.  

Pre-sale tickets for the show started on Tuesday while the general sale will kick-off on Sept. 2 from 2 pm. 

Ticket prices range from 680 pesos (US $40) to 12,080 pesos (US $717), and are available from Ticketmaster.  Due to high demand, a virtual queue will open 30 minutes before sales start and organizers expect the show to sell out.

The 81-year-old Liverpudlian first came to Mexico in November 1993, playing what was only the second-ever show at the Foro Sol itself.

Paul Mccartney
Organizers Ocesa say they anticipate the shows will sell out entirely. (Raph PH/Wikimedia)

The British singer came back again in November 2002, 2010 and 2012 – this time, adding a one-night-show in Guadalajara. That same year he gave a free concert in Mexico City’s Zocalo.  

With reports from Forbes and Milenio

Tomás Zerón, wanted for crimes in Mexico, says there is ‘no proof’

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Tomás Zerón in 2016
Tomás Zerón, seen here in 2016, was instrumental in the construction of the "historic truth" presented by the attorney general's office about the Ayotzinapa case in 2014. He is wanted on charges of torture and tampering with evidence.(SAÚL LÓPEZ/CUARTOSCURO.COM)

Former federal law enforcement official and fugitive from justice Tomás Zerón has denied any involvement in the purchase of the Pegasus spyware system during the 2012-18 administration of former president Enrique Peña Nieto and rejected the suggestion that he fled to Israel because that country doesn’t have an extradition treaty with Mexico.

The Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) announced in May that it was prosecuting the former head of the now-defunct Criminal Investigation Agency (AIC) and three other ex-officials in connection with an “illegal” purchase of the Israeli-made Pegasus system in 2014.

Tomás Zerón in a TV interview
Tomás Zerón gave an interview on Israeli television on Saturday. (Screenshot/Channel 12)

The FGR said the four ex-officials were accused of embezzlement, fraud, abuse of power and criminal association in connection with a 460-million-peso purchase of Pegasus, which can infiltrate and extract information from cellphones. It said that the purchase was made by the PGR, as the Attorney General’s Office was formerly called.

Zerón also faces charges related to the disappearance and presumed murder of 43 students in Guerrero in 2014, a crime he was tasked with investigating as head of the AIC. Those charges include torture and tampering with evidence. The current government has been asking Israel to extradite Zerón to Mexico for over two years.

In an interview with Israeli television in Tel Aviv, the ex-official asserted that he is a victim of “political persecution” in Mexico and said that he has the evidence to prove it.

Zerón said he had received threats in Mexico and that it was risky for him to stay there given that his government-provided security detail had been recalled.

AMLO at morning press conference in 2021
The president discusses the Zerón case at a daily press conference in July 2021. (GALO CAÑAS/CUARTOSCURO.COM)

“I took the decision to leave my country, I went to Canada and later flew to Israel,” he told Israel’s Channel 12.

When the interviewer asked whether his decision to go to Israel was because that country doesn’t have an extradition agreement with Mexico, Zerón gave a strange and less than convincing response.

“No. There are other countries in the world. Why come to a country where my language isn’t spoken? Why not go to Chile? Why come to a country that complicates everything for me?”

The interviewer then remarked that “people in Mexico think that you fled here because you had connections … to NSO,” the company that makes Pegasus.

Ex Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera in 2016
Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán in an archival photo from 2016 after being recaptured by Mexican authorities. He had escaped in 2015 from a prison while awaiting formal sentencing. (Photo: Pedro Valtierra/Cuartoscuro)

“There is no way. I don’t know anyone from NSO, I don’t have a relationship [with the company], I never sat down with them, there is no proof, ” Zerón said.

According to a 2021 report by The Guardian newspaper, journalists, activists, opposition figures and others, including at least 50 people close to President López Obrador, were potentially targeted with Pegasus by the Peña Nieto government. The current government has rejected claims that it has used Pegasus to spy on citizens.

After he spoke about his involvement in the 2014 capture of former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Zerón responded to the assertion that he was living in Israel “like a criminal.”

“It’s not an easy situation. In the end my objective is to be able to return to my country, return to my family … and for justice to be served,” he said.

“… It’s not easy to live in another country,” he reiterated at the conclusion of a 12-minute news story that included other interviews as well as information about the 2014 disappearance of the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College students in Iguala, Guerrero.

“… I live alone without my family, without my people. Now I have only one target in my life in Israel and the target is [to] fight for my life,” Zerón said.

Protesters outside the Israeli embassy in Mexico City
Protesters outside the Israeli embassy in Mexico City in September last year, demanding Zerón’s extradition. (ROGELIO MORALES /CUARTOSCURO.COM)

Last Friday, the day before the interview with Zerón aired on Israeli television, Mexico’s Interior Ministry (SEGOB) released a statement in which it said that “investigations, evidence and testimonies” implicate the former AIC chief in the torture of a presumed member of the Guerreros Unidos, a crime gang allegedly involved in the abduction and murder of the Ayotzinapa students.

“Physical and psychological torture of people was one of the multiple lies that inspired the construction of the poorly named ‘historical truth‘ about the disappearance of the 43 Ayotzinapa teaching students,” SEGOB said.

“… Despite a million-dollar campaign to make [Zerón] look like a politically persecuted person, Mexican authorities have asked Israel to extradite him. The Mexican state maintains that no government should protect a torturer,” the ministry said.

López Obrador said in late July that he had received a response to a letter he sent to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seek the extradition of Zerón. He said there was “willingness” on the part of the Israeli government “to help us,” but didn’t confirm that it would actually agree to the extradition.

Mexico News Daily 

Grain is cheaper to import, but food prices remain high in Mexico

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Tortilla prices
Despite a fall in worldwide grain prices, the savings have not been passed on to consumers, say agricultural analysts.(Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)

Importing yellow corn, wheat and soybeans into Mexico is costing less these days — thanks to a drop in grain prices on the world market, and the peso’s newfound buying power.

However, food prices in Mexico are not going down accordingly.

Tortilla prices
Food prices rose significantly in response to inflation in the past three years. (Dassaev Telléz Adame/Cuartoscuo)

“In theory, they should lower the prices [of food], but in reality, it does not happen — in Mexico or anywhere,” said Juan Carlos Anaya, director of the Agricultural Markets Consulting Group (GCMA). “This is a complaint heard in other countries.”

In the last 12 months, international grain futures prices have dropped significantly, according to GCMA data: yellow corn costs 29% less; wheat for baking flour is down 24%; durum wheat to produce pastas is down 16%; and soybean paste, which is used by livestock farmers, is down 10%. Mexico uses primarily domestic white corn in food production, but imports yellow corn for use in livestock feed. 

Moreover, importers are benefiting from the stronger peso, which has appreciated around 16% this year against the dollar, opening this week at 16.74 per US dollar.

Yet tortilla prices reportedly have gone up 9.7% nationwide this year, cornmeal has risen 13.3% and cereal flakes are up 12.5%. Products made from wheat derivatives are higher, as well, as are prices for pasta.

Juan Carlos Anaya, director of the Agricultural Markets Consulting Group (GCMA)
Juan Carlos Anaya, director of the Agricultural Markets Consulting Group (GCMA) called on Profeco to investigate the price rises. (Juan Carlos Anaya/X)

“They are not going down because it is a captive demand,” Ayala said. “These are staple products.”

Food producers and retailers “argue that when [the cost of these products] rose [with inflation] they had to maintain their prices and reduce their profits” to remain viable, Ayala said. “And now that prices are falling, they are trying to maximize their profits.”

Ayala stopped short of accusing companies of price fixing, but he urged the government’s consumer watchdog agency, Profeco, to look into the drop of grain prices — which has caused Mexican grain farmers to seek increased government subsidies — compared to the prices consumers are paying. “Profeco should review who is getting the most benefit,” he said.

According to the GCMA, Mexico imports 39% of the yellow corn, 95% of the soybeans and 54% of the wheat consumed in the country.

Mexican corn farmer
Mexico says it is phasing out GM corn imports by 2024 to protect Mexicans’ health and Mexico’s native corn from contamination. The U.S. says Mexico’s concerns are not based on science. (Government of Mexico)

In June, Mexico implemented a 50% tariff on white corn imports to reduce the amount of genetically modified corn used in the country’s food supply. Import levies on white corn had been lifted earlier in the year in response to high inflation and elevated food costs, but the government stated that the exemption had not “generated a significant impact on the decrease in prices in the national market” when it decreed the 50% tariff. 

“It is a measure that is not understood, because Mexico is not self-sufficient” in corn production, said Mario Jorge Yáñez, a Mexico-based partner at Hogan Lovells, a law firm with expertise in foreign trade.

Mexico imported only 614,000 tonnes of white corn from January to October last year, but produced 23 million tonnes domestically. However, yellow corn imports from the United States alone are worth about US $5 billion a year. The U.S. announced it would request a dispute settlement panel under the USMCA free trade pact on Aug. 17 in response to Mexico’s stance on GM corn.

Prices for most foods in Mexico are still rising, even as headline inflation declines, with the processed food, beverages and tobacco category up 8.75% annually in the first half of August, and fruits and vegetables up 8.66% according to data from the national statistics agency (INEGI).

With reports from Reforma

A new life begins: the ever-changing, unexpected expat reality

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Janet Blaser on a rooftop
Janet Blaser has lived in Mazatlán for 20 years, and contemplates the many changes she has witnessed, while seeing Mexico through the eyes of a newcomer. (Dianne Hofner Saphiere)

Yesterday I had to take my computer for a (thankfully) small repair, to an expat who’s had a business here for more than a decade. Through the years, he has moved steadily into less expensive, more “Mexican” neighborhoods, whether out of necessity or desire I don’t know. 

Using the Google map he sent, I packed up my laptop and headed inland, driving away from the beachfront malecón, away from the main expat enclaves in centro histórico and the hotel zone. As I went deeper into the neighborhoods, I passed cocinas económicas, several tapicerías, a storefront church next to an alcohólicos anónimos (AA). Each block had its own little tienda with the same onions, tomatoes and bedraggled video game machine on the sidewalk; there was no Walmart, Sam’s Club or Home Depot, Wings Army or McDonald’s. Abuelas were outside sweeping and chatting; a few dogs meandered here and there.

The author at her favorite local taco stand, Raymundo’s, where she’s watched the family’s babies grow up to have kids of their own. (Matt Mawson)

Memories came flooding back of the Mazatlán I’d found when I first moved here almost 20 years ago, of a vastly simpler city and way of life. It was only a few minutes’ drive, but it felt worlds away from the overwhelming tourism, traffic and development that characterizes Mazatlán—and, dare I say, much of Mexico—today. 

Like many of you, I’m full of conflicting emotions about the giant condo towers, the tremendous and constant tourism, the traffic, the crowded beaches, restaurants, stores, plazas and sidewalks. There’s a secondary set of problems as well: the insufficient infrastructure and management for trash, water and cell signals; woefully inadequate parking for the thousands of people coming on vacation; the sudden need for reservations at even the smallest neighborhood café or coffee shop. 

As the city has “grown up” and taken its place as a popular (very popular!) tourist and vacation destination, both for foreigners and folks from other parts of Mexico, the small, unpretentious town I was originally attracted to is all but gone. And it’s not only here in Mazatlán; I hear the same thing from friends in San Miguel de Allende, Puerto Vallarta, Ajijic and Guanajuato. I know the other side of this is increased income and opportunity for many locals, and from my privileged American position I do appreciate that. Yet I still have to ask, “At what cost?”

A new friend I’ve been spending a lot of time with lately, who is also new to Mexico, affords me a different perspective. Let’s call her Annie. She moved to Mazatlán last fall, following her dream of a new and different life, with less stress, a lower cost of living, more adventure and better weather than her home in the Pacific Northwest.

I have a car (she doesn’t) and so I’ve been taking her out and about on errands to help get her apartment set up. I’d forgotten what it was like to be the “stranger in a strange land,” the almost guaranteed frustration and aggravation that often accompanies even the most basic of chores here as one attempts to get settled. Mostly she remains enthusiastic, patient and open to whatever it is that’s coming next. Often (embarrassingly) I’m the one who’s irritated and annoyed.

Being around her has made me remember when I first got here, the struggles and challenges and “surprises.” I remember my first few years as an expat, before any of the big chain stores even existed, when the only places to shop were small local stores. We had to learn about our neighborhoods, practicing our Spanish with incredibly tolerant locals, to try and find things and services we needed or wanted. I used to have an ongoing list of stuff to bring from the U.S., and I can still recall the excitement of “finally” having turmeric, organic cotton sheets, Edison bulbs or a really nice stainless-steel pan. One learned to do without and to let go of so much, and to really live simpler, without so many material options. 

The city has changed in so many ways it’s hard to even remember what it was like—or what I was like—whereas Annie’s outlook is fresh and optimistic, full of good-natured enthusiasm. She’s appreciative to be “living the dream” she’d imagined for so long. For her, Amazon Mexico, those big box stores and U.S. fast food chains are just accepted as part of her experience here; there’s no judgment or concern that her “Mexican experience” has been changed by their presence.

Truth be told, I don’t shop at the little tienditas or mercados much anymore either, preferring instead the clean, air-conditioned comfort and convenience of the big chains. (Once the weather cools off and the weekly organic farmers’ market begins in November my habits will change, though.) I find myself eating less traditional Mexican food and more plant-based, “heart-healthy” meals, and as some of you know, Italian food is my go-to for comfort. 

Here on the coast, we’re deep in the throes of the summer doldrums, and it’s too hot, day and night, to do much of anything. Perhaps there’s too much time to think, but hanging out with my new friend has been a wake-up call for me, another reminder to count my blessings. Her buoyant happiness even as the power goes out (again), there’s a cockroach in the toaster oven (again) or a hundred other only-in-Mexico scenarios unfold makes us both chuckle (again).

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

Morena hopefuls make final pitches before polling begins

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Morena six aspirants to run for president
The six aspirants have been touring the country since the candidate selection process began in June. From left to right: Manuel Velasco, Marcelo Ebrard, Adán Augusto López, Claudia Sheinbaum, Ricardo Monreal and Gerardo Fernández Noroña. (Morena/X)

The aspirants to Morena’s 2024 presidential election nomination closed their campaigns on Sunday ahead of a weeklong polling process that will determine who the ruling party’s new standard-bearer will be.

In their final pitches to citizens, the three leading Morena hopefuls – former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, ex-foreign affairs minister Marcelo Ebrard and former interior minister Adán Augusto López Hernández – all expressed confidence that they will prevail in the contest to represent Morena at the June 2, 2024, presidential election.

Morena aspirants to run for president in 2024
The six Morena hopefuls: from left to right (top), Adán Augusto López, Manuel Velasco and Marcelo Ebrard; from left to right (bottom), Claudia Sheinbaum, Ricardo Monreal and Gerardo Fernández Noroña. (Morena/X)

They also emphasized their closeness to and admiration for President López Obrador, the founder of Morena and the leader of what he and his government colleagues call the “fourth transformation” (4T) of Mexico.

A day after holding a rally at Mexico City’s Monument to the Revolution, Sheinbaum spoke in front of some 5,000 supporters at an event in the Veracruz capital of Xalapa on Sunday.

“Our movement is the present and future of the nation,” said the ex-mayor, who polls show is the most popular of the six Morena aspirants.

“… There is no turning back, no backward steps or steps to the right, only the continuation of the transformation,” Sheinbaum declared.

Claudia Sheinbaum at her closing event
Claudia Sheinbaum is leading in the polls and says that Morena is the “present and future of the nation.” (YERANIA ROLÓN/ CUARTOSCURO.COM)

Among those listening to the 61-year-old physicist and environmental scientist was the president’s brother, Ramiro López Obrador, who described her as the “best” person to lead Morena at next year’s election.

Sheinbaum said that honesty is the “main attribute” required of the person who will lead the “defense of the fourth transformation.”

Among the other attributes needed are “love for the homeland, love for the people, love of our history and love for our movement,” she said.

Morena will never “divorce” itself from the people of Mexico, asserted Sheinbaum, who declared late last year that she was ready to become Mexico’s first female president.

President López Obrador at a rally
President López Obrador founded Morena and won a landslide election in 2018. (lopezobrador.org.mx)

“This is a social movement that will continue fighting for justice. That’s why we say loudly and proudly … it’s an honor to be with Obrador,” she said.

Sheinbaum said that the past ten weeks she spent traveling in Mexico as she attempted to sell herself as the best option for Morena had been “unforgettable” and thanked her supporters for speaking about “the continuation of the transformation” with “the face of a woman.”

She described López Obrador, her boss when she was environment minister in Mexico City in the early 2000s, as a “great leader.”

Speaking to residents of Veracruz as well as people who were bussed in from the neighboring states of Tabasco, Chiapas, Oaxaca and Puebla, Sheinbaum took a shot at probable opposition presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez, although she refrained from mentioning the senator by name.

“There are those who don’t know the southeast [of Mexico], who speak disparagingly of the men and women of this region, who criticize the Maya Train [railroad] – a project of the present and future of Mexico,” she said.

Sheinbaum told those in attendance at the Xalapa International Velodrome that it won’t be the last time she sees them “because I’m going to come back as national coordinator of the committees of defense of the fourth transformation,” the title the winner of the Morena selection process will assume before officially becoming the party’s 2024 presidential candidate.

Marcelo Ebrard at close of campaign
Marcelo Ebrard and his wife at the Sunday event where he delivered his final address before polling begins. (Marcelo Ebrard/X)

At Arena Ciudad de México, a concert hall in the Azcapotzalco borough of the capital, Marcelo Ebrard delivered his final address as a Morena aspirant to some 20,000 supporters.

“This is a festive meeting, a celebration. We’re finishing one stage of work and starting another. The future of Mexico begins today, today we begin on the road to win the 2024 elections, to defend the fourth transformation, to take it to the next level,” said the ex-foreign minister, who was mayor of Mexico City between 2006 and 2012.

He said his aim was not to “stay where we are,” but to build on the “transformation” initiated by López Obrador when he took office in late 2018.

“We want a better country, [improved] security, a universal health system, gender equality, very well paid jobs, economic growth, a better justice system, education – a winning country,” said the 63-year-old, who also served as a minister in Mexico City when López Obrador was mayor.

Ebrard said that the transformation already has “very large foundations” and acknowledged “the great work that my friend and colleague Andrés Manuel López Obrador has done” since becoming president.

He called on his supporters to open the doors of their homes to pollsters who will conduct surveys across Mexico between Aug. 28 and Sept. 3 to determine whose name will appear on ballot papers in 2024.

Mario Delgado
Mario Delgado, the president of Morena, shows the polling ballot at a press conference on Monday. (Morena/X)

“We need to participate in the poll. Only 12,000 people will be polled. … When you take a decision, when you put [the name of] who you want on the ballot, you’re representing thousands and thousands of people,” Ebrard said.

“In an election in Mexico 63 million of us vote, but they’re only going to poll 12,000 people. What I ask of you, colleagues, is to help me … and [with that] we’re going to win the poll next week,” he said.

Ebrard, who has claimed that sections of the government have favored Sheinbaum during the Morena selection process, said he will host another “party” on Sept. 6 to celebrate his victory.

“See you on Sept. 6 … at the party, the second chapter of this party. Long live Mexico, we’re going to win. … Those of you here are free, you’re convinced [I’m the best person to lead the country] and you’re committed. And that’s why we’re going to win,” he said.

Across town at the Monument to the Revolution, Ebrard’s former cabinet colleague López Hernández was accompanied by thousands of supporters at his final public event of the contest to select the presidential candidate for Morena and its allies, namely the Labor Party (PT) and the Ecological Green Party of Mexico (PVEM).

He noted that Saturday marked the second anniversary of his resignation as governor of Tabasco so that he could he could “accept the most honorable assignment” of his life: “accompanying the greatest president in history as interior minister.”

Adán Augusto López Hernández
Adán Augusto López at an event in Toluca on Saturday. (Adán Augusto López H/X)

That role, López Hernández said, allowed him to “build a dream that will undoubtedly become reality.”

“We’re going to win and we’re going to represent the people of Mexico,” he said.

López Hernández, who, like the president, is a native tabasqueño, said he was convinced the 4T would continue and declared that the transformation is “for you and with you.”

Imitating López Obrador, he pledged to follow the orders of the Mexican people as president, and asserted that there is strong support for the current government across Mexico. After noting that he has recently visited the capitals of the majority of Mexico’s states and many of its municipalities, López Hernández said that citizens don’t want the government’s welfare and social programs to stop and don’t want generous pensions for ex-presidents to return.

The former interior minister called on the other Morena aspirants to maintain unity and support whoever becomes the party’s presidential candidate.

“We need all of us, we can’t afford the luxury of not building collectively due to personal ambitions,” he said.

“… You, the Mexican people, deserve everything. I already put my heart in your hands. Together we’re going to build the better Mexico of the future. … The country needs all of us, the country belongs to all of us,” López Hernández said.

Ricardo Monreal at rally
Ricardo Monreal at a rally in Mexico City on Friday. ( PEDRO ANZA /CUARTOSCURO.COM)

The three other aspirants to the Morena-PT-PVEM nomination also closed their campaigns on Sunday. Gerardo Fernández Noroña, a former PT deputy, held a rally in Zacatecas city while former Chiapas governor and ex-PVEM senator Manuel Velasco spoke at an event in the Santa Fe business district of Mexico City. Former Morena senator and ex-governor of Zacatecas Ricardo Monreal addressed supporters in the Three Cultures Square in the capital’s Tlatelolco neighborhood.

Recent polls conducted by the El Financiero and Reforma newspapers found that Sheinabum is the most favored Morena aspirant ahead of Ebrard. López Hernández ranked third in the El Financiero poll, but fifth behind Fernández Noroña and Velasco in the Reforma one. Numerous earlier polls found that he was the third most likely candidate behind Sheinbaum and Ebrard.

Morena will announce the winner of its selection process on Sept. 6, three days after the Broad Front for Mexico (FAM) opposition bloc names its 2024 candidate. Gálvez, a National Action Party senator, and Senator Beatriz Paredes of the Institutional Revolutionary Party are the only aspirants left in the FAM contest.

Published on Monday, the results of the El Financiero and Refoma polls indicate that Morena will win next’s presidential election with either of Sheinbaum or Ebrard as its candidate.

With reports from Milenio

Unemployment rate remains below 3% in second quarter

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Job fair
Unemployment increased slightly from the last quarter of 2023, but remains lower than this time last year. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)

Mexico’s unemployment rate was 2.8% in the second quarter of 2023, the national statistics agency INEGI reported Monday.

The rate is slightly higher than the record low of 2.7% recorded in the first quarter of the year, but 0.4 percentage points lower than unemployment in the April-June period of 2022.

Woman working
Statistics showed that just 46.1% of women were working, or actively seeking work. (Graciela López/Cuartoscuro)

INEGI said that 1.7 million of 60.2 million “economically active” people were unemployed in the second quarter of the year. An additional 4.7 million people were underemployed. That figure, representing 8% of Mexicans with jobs, was 391,000 lower than a year earlier.

Just over three-quarters of Mexican males aged 15 and older were in work or looking for paid work in Q2, while the figure for females was significantly lower at 46.1%.

Mexico City had the highest unemployment rate in the country – 4.4% – followed by Tabasco, 4.1%; and Coahuila, 3.7%. Guerrero had the lowest rate – 0.9% – followed by Oaxaca, 1.2%; and Yucatán, 1.6%.

Of the 58.5 million people with jobs in the second quarter, 6.6 million worked in the primary sector of the economy, 14.6 million worked in the secondary sector and 36.9 million worked in the tertiary sector, according to INEGI.

Street performer
Many Mexican workers (such as street performers) are members of the informal economy, and do not pay tax or qualify for benefits. (Juan Pablo Zamora/Cuartoscuro)

Almost 32.3 million people – 55.2% of those with jobs – were working in the informal sector, meaning that they don’t pay taxes and don’t have benefits such as paid vacations or health insurance that would allow them to seek treatment at IMSS or ISSSTE hospitals and clinics.

With 80.3% of workers in informal sector positions, Oaxaca had the highest informality rate in the country followed by Guerrero (78.1%) and Chiapas (76%). The states with the lowest rates were Coahuila (35%), Chihuahua (35.1%) and Nuevo León (36.1%).

Almost half of all workers in Chiapas – one of Mexico’s poorest states – were deemed to be in “critical” financial situations despite having a job. Tlaxcala had the second highest rate in that category, with 42% of workers in “critical” situations, while México state ranked third with a rate of 39.5%.

The number of Mexicans living in poverty declined by 8.9 million between 2020 and 2022, the federal government’s social development agency Coneval reported earlier this month. However, 46.8 million people were still living in poverty last year.

Child in southeast Mexico
While poverty has declined under the current Morena government, there were still some 46.8 million Mexicans below the poverty line in 2022.  (Adriana Álvarez/Cuartoscuro)

President López Obrador focused on the positives of the Mexican economy in a 30-second video uploaded to social media on Sunday to promote the government’s fifth annual report, which he will outline in an address in Campeche this Friday.

The economy is growing, the Mexican peso is the currency that has strengthened the most in the world against the [US] dollar, foreign investment is arriving, there is practically no unemployment, we’re the main trade partner of the United States, but we don’t forget that for the good of all, the poor come first,” he said.

With reports from Sin Embargo and Forbes México 

Bolivian winner of Mexico City marathon breaks record

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CDMX Marathon 2023
More than 30,000 people entered the marathon in the Mexican capital this year - 58% more than last year. (Graciela López/Cuartoscuro)

More than 30,000 runners competed in the 40th edition of the Mexico City Marathon on Sunday, but none of them was as fast as Bolivian Héctor Garibay Flores.

In fact, no one in the history of the race had ever been so fast.

CDMX marathon podium 2023
Bolivian Garibay beat out the hotly-rated Kenyan entrants, including last year’s winner, Edwin Kiprop Kiptoo, who finished third. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)

The 35-year-old needed just 2 hours, 8 minutes and 23 seconds to run 42 kilometers (26.1 miles) through the capital, breaking the CDMX Marathon record by a whopping two minutes.

Competing in his very first Mexico City Marathon, Garibay Flores bettered the record of 2:10:38 set by Kenyan Titus Ekire in 2018, when the route of the marathon ran from the central Zócalo square to the Olympic stadium, in Coyoacán. 

This year’s route instead started at the Olympic stadium at 6 a.m. under a light rain, progressed up to the Insurgentes roundabout and along the Bosque de Chapultepec to Reforma Avenue, finishing in the Zócalo. The number of participants increased by 58% over last year, when 19,000 people, mostly recreational runners, signed up.

In the women’s competition, Kenyan runners swept the top three places, with Celestine Chepchir (2:27:17) taking first.

Celestine Chepchirchir took the honors in the Women’s race, with a time of 2:27:17. Kenyan runners took all three podium places. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)

Kenya’s men also were expected to dominate — and they almost did. But about halfway through the race, the Bolivian kicked it into high gear and moved past last year’s winner,  Edwin Kiprop Kiptoo. Kiptoo responded and regained the lead, but Garibaysurged ahead and never looked back.

Kiptoo ended up finishing third, behind fellow Kenyan Leonard Langat. Both were nearly 3 minutes behind Garibay, a world-class runner who had previously qualified for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Despite that accomplishment, the native of Oruro, a city of about 260,000 in the Bolivian highlands, has been strapped for cash and was working as a taxi driver to raise money. Due to his lack of funds, he decided not to travel to Hungary for the recent World Athletics Championships.

Instead, he decided to pony up for a trip to Mexico — “and thanks be to God, it was worth it,” he said afterward. The first-place prize was 550,000 pesos (US $32,814) and a Garmin watch, plus he reportedly received another 550,000 pesos for breaking the record.

Olympic 2-time gold medalist, Ethiopian Hailie Gebrselassie attended the prize ceremony. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)

He conceded the prize money is also “very important” because it will help him prepare for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Working as a taxi driver has robbed him of valuable training time, he said.

“I’m very happy because I only came [to Mexico] to get a podium,” he said, alluding to being one of the top-three finishers. “We are very short of money, but the truth is [finishing in the top 3 is what’s] important for me.”

Legendary Ethiopian long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie, 50, a two-time gold medalist in the Olympics and a four-time world champion, attended the awards ceremony.

With reports from Milenio, El Financiero and El Universal

Hearing canceled in Mexico’s case against US gun shops

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Handguns
Smuggled firearms from the United States help arm Mexican cartels. Guns are heavily restricted in Mexico, but are widely available at gun stores on the U.S. side of the border.(Carlos Canabal/Cuartoscuro)

A hearing in Mexico’s case against five gun shops in Arizona that was scheduled to go ahead on Monday was canceled, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) said.

The federal government filed a lawsuit against gun stores in Tucson, Phoenix and Yuma last October, accusing them of involvement in illegal arms trafficking to Mexico.

Pawn shop selling guns
The Mexican government hopes that by holding manufacturers accountable, unrestricted sales at the United States border will decrease. (Best Pawn Tuscon)

In a statement on Saturday, the SRE said that the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, cites “tracing data” that shows that the gun stores “routinely supply high-powered firearms to criminal organizations in Mexico.”

“… After the suit was filed, both parties presented their arguments during the written stage of the proceedings,” the ministry said.

“The oral argument was scheduled for August 28, 2023. However, on Thursday, August 24, the judge assigned to the case, Cindy Jorgenson, issued an order canceling the hearing, stating only that she is considering recusing herself from the case. The public will be informed of the new date for the oral argument set by the District Court,” the SRE said.

The government filed its case against the gun stores 10 days after its US $10 billion lawsuit against United States gun manufacturers was dismissed by a Massachusetts federal judge.

Tucson district court
The case has been delayed, as Tucson judge Cindy Jorgenson is considering recusing herself from the case. (Tucson District Court/Pfeiffer Partners)

Late last month, it presented its arguments in favor of the reopening of that suit, in which it accused gunmakers including Smith & Wesson and Barrett Firearms of negligent business practices that have led to illegal arms trafficking and deaths in Mexico, where U.S.-sourced firearms are used in a majority of high-impact crimes such as homicide.

The SRE said Saturday that a “favorable ruling” in its case against the Arizona gun shops “would strengthen the first lawsuit filed in Boston, since it would prove that the gun manufacturers are negligent for not monitoring or disciplining the dealers who sell their products to criminals.”

It noted that “while the broader Boston lawsuit alleges that the gun manufacturers bear responsibility for their negligence in manufacturing and distributing firearms that facilitates their illicit trafficking to our country, this second lawsuit addresses a specific angle of the issue.”

That issue, the SRE explained is “the negligence of gun dealers that enables criminal organizations in Mexico to acquire their products (for example, through sales to straw purchasers).”

Mexican army gun amnesty
Mexico has tried to deal with the flow of illegal firearms but has struggled to meaningfully stem the flow of weapons from the United States. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)

The SRE said in 2019 that firearms from the United States are used in seven out of every 10 high-impact crimes committed in Mexico.

The U.S. said in April that it was “deploying new authorities … to target southbound firearms flows and working with Mexican counterparts to increase firearms tracing to identify and choke off the source of firearms flows into Mexico.”

The task U.S. and Mexican authorities face is an enormous one.

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of firearms are smuggled into Mexico from the U.S. each year, while data from the Federal Attorney General’s Office shows that the number of guns seized here annually has been less than 10,000 over the past decade.

Mexico News Daily 

Las Amazonas de Yaxunah, women warriors of Mexican softball

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Las Amazonas de Yanuxah show up to every game in the same team uniform: traditional huipiles and bare feet. (Cuartoscuro)

Shoeless and wearing traditional Maya dresses known as huipiles, the softball team Las Amazonas de Yaxunah is smashing old-fashioned machismo stereotypes about women competing in sports.

Recently crowned champions of the Yaxcabá quadrangular tournament, the team defeated the hosts, Las Bravas, 7-4 after a spirited effort produced an epic comeback from four runs down. It was the latest victory to propel them towards national stardom – but it wasn’t so long ago that they were criticized for playing sports at all, which was considered the dominion of men.

At 54 years old, María is still one of the big hitters of Las Amazonas. (Photo courtesy of Mark Viales)

The group of Indigenous softball players are from Yaxunah, Yucatán, a village of fewer than 800 people and a stone’s throw away from Chichen Itzá. Like the legendary women warriors known as the Amazons, Las Amazonas de Yaxunah have broken barriers to further the feminist movement in their community. Now with four female teams in Yaxunah, their success is quite a feat, considering not a single women’s team existed here five years ago.

“If it were up to the chauvinists in our village, women would spend their lives slaving away with chores at home, caring for the children and working on the farm,” María Enedina Canul Poot, 54, one of the founding members of the team, told me. “Sport was a no-go for women, but we had enough, and decided to tell our husbands, fathers and brothers that we would play whether they approved or not.”

María is no stranger to softball because, as a child, she used to sneak out of her home to play against the boys who gathered in the local field.

“I was the only seven-year-old girl in the village who could give them a good game,” she said. 

María Enedina Canul Poot, 54, was the only seven year old in the village who played baseball against boys and she continues to break chauvinist stigmas. (Photo courtesy of Mark Viales)

“It gave me great pride to hold my own against the boys. My mother didn’t like it, and I would argue with her to allow me to play, even though she beat me, but I would do everything possible to convince her to go. Eventually, she relented.”

However, when María was 15 years old, her mother insisted she act “more feminine.” She either had to give up softball l or risk being thrown out of the house.

“My mother decided enough was enough, and that I needed to act more like a woman, which was incredibly frustrating,” she said. “I had to face the reality that it was prohibited in my village for young girls to play a man’s sport.”

When the opportunity to play again arose 35 years later, María took it. Four years ago, government health officials set up a fitness program for women in Yaxunah because of the high level of diabetes in the area. But when they proposed aerobics as a way to stay healthy, María was the first to object, suggesting softball instead.

María hit a home run to spark a spectacular comeback against Las Bravas de Yaxcaba, clinching the title of a recent quadrangular tournament. (Photo courtesy of Mark Viales)

“I’m a sportswoman, so dancing and jumping around just doesn’t do it for me,” she said. “I prefer the atmosphere and camaraderie of competitive team sports. They wanted us to play soccer, but baseball is the sport of Yucatán and the game I fell in love with from a young age. Most women in the community agreed with me, and that is how the idea was born, when softball became a part of us.”

It was tough in the beginning. María says she had to carve a makeshift bat out of a piece of wood and beg her late husband to donate one of his baseballs.

“We had no fear,” she said. “At first we played without gloves, so we ended up with some bumps and bruises, but I believe this made us stronger than teams from larger towns with full gear.”

Six months later, a neighboring softball team from Pisté saw the team playing in their field and invited them to compete in their first game. Word spread fast, and soon, other teams from the states of Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Campeche wanted to face the famous shoeless women warriors from Yaxunah. 

Finding a good name to reflect the team’s tenacity and ferocity on the field became a priority, and that was when Las Amazonas was born.

Las Amazonas celebrate their victory with their traditional battle cry “We are the Amazonas! We are women warriors!” (Photo courtesy of Mark Viales)

“A few names were suggested, but only one word came to my mind: amazonas,” María said. “It brought about a moment of silence [when I told the team.] At first, they told me that it did not represent us because it was a story that belonged to another culture, but I didn’t care. This is what I felt we were, women warriors. I could definitely identify with this name, and I am delighted it stuck.”

The woman warriors have warmed the hearts of softball fans across the country, but none more so than their manager, who was love-struck by the team captain. 

Three years ago, coach Joel Díaz Canul, 21, who happens to be María’s son, fell head over heels for captain Citlali Poot Dzib, 20. Their romance blossomed during one practice session when Citlali stayed behind to improve her pitching. Joel worked up the courage to place a bet with her: if he hit a home run, they would go out on a date that night. 

His heart racing, Joel focused on the ball as Citlali lined up her pitch. He knew these pitchers never took any prisoners, but when he smashed it into the trees, he fell to his knees in celebration. Citlali jokes that she was slightly unimpressed with his antics, but thought he was cute enough to honor the bet.

“I was extremely nervous,” he said. “I don’t know if it was destiny or pure luck, but we are still together and going strong. It appears sports can make you happy in numerous ways. We have been married for almost two years now.”

The team has defied expectations, upsetting some of the big hitters in Yucatán. Joel believes his side is ready to participate in the official league, and says players like Citlali could one day go pro.

The team played a game in Mérida in March 2022 as part of International Women’s Day events. ( MARTÍN ZETINA/CUARTOSCURO.COM)

“She’s still young, so who knows?” he said. “It makes me so proud to see what they have achieved already. We were invited to play a match against a team from Campeche. It was the first time we traveled there. It was amazing. This sport has given us the chance to discover new places: Veracruz, Chiapas and Mexico City. We’ve traveled around the country because of the fame we have achieved.”

Joel said the team’s exploits have helped increase tourism interest in their village, which has a cenote and an important archaeological site. According to Joel, many visitors arrive at Yaxunah intending to meet the famous woman warriors.

“We are always open to having a nice conversation with visitors and showing them our cultural identity,” he said. “We are Maya, and the huipil is just one of the components of our diverse culture. I think the municipal mayors are beginning to realize and value our contribution.”

Coach Joel Díaz Canul, 21, shares words of wisdom with his wife, Team Captain Citlali Poot Dzib, 20, whom he fell in love with following a momentous practice session. (Photo courtesy of Mark Viales)

Joel admits there was a much stronger presence of machismo in the village a few years ago, but this changed because of Las Amazonas and other women’s softball teams.

“The same people who used to leer at the players and call them nasty names are now supporting them at matches and online,” he said. “It’s a real turnaround, and I suppose not many people expected chauvinist men would change their attitude in such a small village, but the majority have. Sport is a powerful tool.”

Mark Viales writes for Mexico News Daily.

5 differences between presidential politics in Mexico versus the US

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United States flag and Mexico flag
While both countries head into presidential elections, Travis Bembenek sees major contrasts between the two political scenes. (Shutterstock)

Mexico and the U.S. are both heading into presidential elections in 2024, but from my view, the two races could not be more different.

These are the five most notable aspects of Mexican politics in contrast with U.S. politics that I see today.

Diversity of political parties

After seven decades of being essentially a one-party system dominated by the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) until the election of PAN (National Action Party) president Vicente Fox in 2000, Mexico now has a plurality of active political parties, with seven officially registered.

President López Obrador was a member of both the PRI and the PRD (Democratic Revolution Party) in his career, but after parting ways with the latter, formed his own Morena (National Regeneration Movement) party in 2011, and went on to win the presidency with the party in 2018. Today Morena is the dominant party in Mexico, with more governerships and legislative seats than any other. Movimiento Cuidadano (Citizens Movement) is another political party that only recently began to gain momentum, and now the mayors of Mexico’s second and third largest cities, Guadalajara and Monterrey, are from the MC, as are the governors of their respective states of Jalisco and Nuevo León.

Alliances between political parties

After dominating Mexican politics for decades, the PRI has found itself losing momentum. The two other prominent parties of the past two decades, the PAN and PRD, have also been losing ground, and joined with the PRI to form an opposition coalition bloc to Morena.

This political alliance of rivals, called Va por México, and then changed to Frente Amplio por México or Broad Front for Mexico (FAM) before beginning the candidate selection process, is one that would have been hard to imagine only a decade ago.

Candidates switching political parties

Before founding Morena, AMLO was at different times a member of the PRI and PRD parties. Marcelo Ebrard, AMLO’s former foreign affairs minister, and current hopeful to be the Morena 2024 candidate, is rumored to be considering switching to the Movimiento Cuidadano (MC) party if he doesn’t get Morena’s nomination.

Xóchitl Gálvez (PAN) is currently the leading candidate to win the opposition’s nomination and just yesterday said she would welcome Ebrard to join her campaign if he fails in his bid with Morena. This all makes for a dynamic political scene, and also has inspired a Mexican political term: chapulineo, or “grasshoppering”, when a politician makes en expedient switch in party allegiance.

Left and right ideologies shifting

The ideologies and platforms of the political parties in Mexico are evolving quickly. As a result, legacy definitions of right and left don’t seem as applicable as in the U.S., with a coalition like the Broad Front for Mexico (FAM) made up of a conservative party (PAN), a leftist party (PRD) and an ideologically shape-shifting but most recently center-right party (PRI).

The prominence of women in Mexican politics today

Three of the leading candidates (Xóchitl Gálvez, Beatriz Paredes and Claudia Sheinbaum) to run for the presidency in 2024 are women, and two of them come from scientific and technological backgrounds. In a comparison of the two forerunners, we see diverse backgrounds and experience. Claudia Sheinbaum (Morena) is a physicist who has a doctorate in energy engineering. Xóchitl Gálvez studied computer engineering. Both are in their early sixties. Sheinbaum is the granddaughter of Jewish European immigrants and Gálvez is the daughter of an Otomí father and mestiza mother.

This will undoubtedly be a fascinating election season to watch, on both sides of the border.