The increased scrutiny of vehicles crossing into the U.S from Mexico has led to delays lasting up to 27 hours, say Mexican authorities. (US CBP)
The Economy Ministry (SE) has urged the government of Texas to cease inspections of cargo at the Matamoros-Brownsville border crossing, asserting that the measure is causing large financial losses for both Mexican and United States companies.
In a statement issued Monday, the SE expressed “serious concerns” about inspections of northbound freight trucks and urged their removal. It said that the inspections began on May 8, three days before the expiration of the United States pandemic-era Title 42 migration expulsion policy.
Inspections by the state of Texas reportedly began on May 8, shortly before Title 42 COVID-19 immigration restrictions were lifted, as large numbers of migrants congregated at border crossings in Mexico. (Cuartoscuro.com)
The ministry said that the federal government would file a complaint with the Trade Facilitation Committee established by Mexico, the United States and Canada when they entered into the free-trade pact known as USMCA in 2020.
The SE said that the objective of the inspections at the Matamoros-Brownsville crossing was to combat the smuggling of migrants, but asserted that “sub-national governments” don’t have the authority to take action against that crime.
The “actions” implemented by the Texas government “are motivated by an anti-Mexican vision that is far removed from the social, cultural and economic integration between Mexico and Texas,” it said.
“Suffice to say, our country is the main trade partner of that state, and this relationship is worth an average of US $231 billion a year.”
Vehicles entering Mexico are usually subject to scrutiny — such as this car in 2022 — but recent, more stringent security checks of cargo trucks, which sometimes carry illegal migrants over the border, have caused severe delays at the Brownsville crossing. (Josh Denmark/U.S. CBP)
The SE said that Texas’ inspections are causing delays of eight to 27 hours for northbound freight trucks, a wait that “mainly affects perishable products.”
The inspections are causing losses in the millions of dollars for both Mexican and U.S. companies, the ministry said.
“It is United States consumers who pay the price of these policies; … It’s in everyone’s interests to reestablish normality at the border,” the SE said.
The Economy Ministry said it has “initiated constructive dialogue with the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to find a solution to a problem that, we recognize, is caused by a sub-national authority.”
The SE, the statement added, expressed its concerns in a May 12 call with the USTR and “emphasized that these obstacles to trade are incompatible with the existing market access agreements between Mexico and the United States.”
“In coming days, the government of Mexico will submit the case to the USMCA Trade Facilitation Committee,” the ministry said.
A stringent inspection policy for commercial vehicles enacted last year by the Texas government to detect drugs and migrants trying to enter the U.S. illegally also caused long delays at the border and heavy financial losses.
That policy came to an end eight days after it was implemented in April 2022 thanks to agreements that governors of Mexican border states reached with Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who accuses the United States government and President Joe Biden of failing to secure the border with Mexico.
Leobardo Cox Tec, a teacher of traditional jaraná dancing, salutes the crowd as he utters the famous phrase ‘and now let the jarána begin’ at this year’s Vaquería festival.
Teachers from a remote village in the state of Yucatán have returned home to rescue fading traditions and prepare for drastic changes they believe will be brought on by the arrival of the Maya Train.
Opponents of the 948-mile-long railway megaproject connecting the country’s neglected and impoverished southeast say the Maya Train is environmentally destructive, will expropriate community lands and will infringe on indigenous rights. They claim it will promote harmful patterns of unsustainable development with industries like tourism and logging.
The Maya Train project runs close to several small villages throughout the Yucatán peninsula. Critics believe it will negatively affect their culture and traditions.
The proposed December completion date leaves surrounding rural villages with little time to adapt to the imminent increase of visitors and to protect their treasured traditions from becoming commercialized folklore.
Yet in Yaxcabá, near Chichen Itzá (18 miles away) and a town of only 3,000 people, some locals are fighting back to prevent what they fear will be the misrepresentation of their heritage.
“Mayan culture today is endangered on two fronts: a lack of interest and its commercialization,” said Leobardo Cox Tec, 26, a Yaxcabá local and a third-generation Yucatec jarána instructor.
The traditional music and dance has been performed by the Maya since the colonial era.
Leobardo Cox Tec’s jaraná students prepare for the annual Vaquería festival in their hometown of Yaxcabá, Yucatán.
“We need to find a balance where tourists experience our traditions in their original context.
Yucatec jarána is traced back to the 17th century, when Spanish colonizers gradually integrated their European customs with the existing indigenous and mixed-race cultures. This created a unique fusion of music and dance that became part of the identity of Yucatán and was passed down through oral tradition. An age-old phrase, “and now let the jarána begin,” continues to launch popular festivals today, with the entire village dancing once the announcement is made.
The music has a bright and percussive sound well-suited to its lively rhythms, with counts of six by eight or three by four. Dancers make pairs or small groups and perform a series of moves involving intricate footwork with complex choreography that can take years of training to master.
Cox Tec’s earliest memories involve dancing at 6 years old to jarána on the radio in his grandfather’s house. As one of the main jaráneros in the village, his grandfather taught him all he could to help him achieve a dance diploma from the University of Bellas Artes in Izamal, Yucatán, in 2017. Cox Tec now has over a decade of teaching under his belt.
Village festivals in Yucatán are mostly inaugurated with Yucatec jarána and dance, which dates back to the 17th century.
“The music was always playing in the background in his house, so I always associated it with happiness and family,” said the young but experienced dance tutor. “By the time I was old enough to take serious lessons from my grandfather, jarána was part of my soul.”
Cox Tec believes youngsters are abandoning the dance played at most Yucatec village festivals in favor of more commercialized versions performed for small groups of tourists. He claims dance schools in the state capital, Merida, fail to teach the traditions of “real jaráneros” like his grandfather.
“Jarána is a manifestation of our identity as Maya people, but the lure of the city offers more money to become a performer,” he said. “Consequently, a tradition with its origins in the villages is at risk of being replaced by a plastic version. Commercialized classes leave out moves that have existed for hundreds of years as vital components of jarána because they are not considered popular for tourists. This mentality causes cultural erosion.”
Leobardo offers classes free to locals as his grandfather did before him, and feels he follows the legacy he has inherited. His two dozen or so students train up to five times a week for a whole year to perform in the largest annual festival in Yaxcabá – the Vaquería (a Yucatec-style rodeo).
According to him, the ideal scenario for visitors to experience Mayan culture at its roots is through sustainable tourism that gives something back to rural villages.
“This would provide a better experience for everyone involved,” said Cox Tec. “Young people would also be encouraged to learn the music and dance in its correct context rather than aspire to perform for an exclusive crowd for a few extra pesos.”
“Jarána has always been a vocation and a way of life,” he added. “Preparing local dance groups for the village festivals like the Vaquería is intertwined with our Mayan heritage, but that culture is rapidly dying out. We should not be at war with modernization, but we need to find a compromise.”
Another teacher from Yaxcabá, Don Milner Pacab Alcocer, 52, has grown up speaking Maya and has taught the language for 26 years. It is Mexico’s second most widely used indigenous language behind Nahuatl and may originate from an ancestral version spoken some 5,000 years ago, known as Proto-Mayan.
Don Milner Pacab Alcocer (center) wants his students to reconnect with their elders in their native Maya tongue instead of in Spanish.
Today, there are around 500,000 speakers in Yucatán, according to the government’s National Institute of Indigenous Languages (INALI). Yet the southern state registered the second largest decline of native speakers in the country, with nearly 20,000 fewer speakers than the previous census.
This puts the Maya language in “medium risk degree of disappearance,” Inali has warned.
According to Pacab, the rapid decline of the Maya language in urban areas forced him to work in the city of Mérida when he finished his teacher training. Despite his protests that his village also had few Mayan speakers, authorities gave him a choice: teach in the city or relinquish his diploma.
In response, Pacab decided he would give free weekend Mayan language classes to his community in order to restore local pride in what used to be their native tongue.
Pacab’s students take part in a learning game where the penalty for failing to keep the cloth straight involves a short conversation in Maya.
“Colonial Spaniards came and told us our language and culture was worthless,” he said. “Mayan was considered the language of the poor and ignorant that had to give it up to avoid damnation. It is an emotional burden for our people that continues to this day.
“Speaking Mayan was restricted behind closed doors at home, and what we want now is for it to flow in the streets.”
Pacab said he and many others suffered from a domino effect as children, where it was considered embarrassing to speak Mayan because of the prejudice against it. Youngsters were rarely encouraged to pick it up and were spoken to in Spanish, despite their grandparents conversing in Mayan between themselves.
Pacab feels, although middle-aged people living in villages may know a few words and phrases, they tend to stick to Spanish and make little effort to recognize their national identity. As a result, most Yaxcabá inhabitants under the age of 30 neither speak nor understand Mayan. Another hurdle facing the restoration of the language in remote villages is that most of the elderly generation who know the language cannot read or write it.
Pacab said conversing in Maya is still sometimes scorned by the community because it is considered detrimental towards finding employment that requires exclusively Spanish speakers.
“Some believe the only way to survive in the city is to forget where you come from,” he said. “When the elderly Maya speakers pass away, nobody will remain to teach the next generation. It is a tragedy that the language could die out because of this reason. Maya contains a complex structure that rivals any language while offering a window into an ancient culture that was never completely eradicated but placed on the sidelines.”
“Language is like a tree with many branches,” he said. “Each one can represent music, dance, theater and poetry.”
“Without it,” he added, “many things will be lost. But I hope the message gets out there that our traditions are in danger of disappearing.”
At 193 meters in length, the California Star is the largest ferry in Latin America. (Baja Ferries/Twitter)
The California Star, the largest ferry and cargo vessel in Latin America, has arrived in Mexico and will shortly begin operations between Sinaloa and Baja California for the local Baja Ferries group.
The ship arrived in the port of Pichilingue in La Paz, Baja California Sur (BCS), and measures more than 193 meters long, and 26 meters wide. Per trip, it has a capacity for 2,850 linear meters of cargo, a figure equivalent to 200 large vehicles.
The California Star is in the port of Pichilingue, outside La Paz, Baja California, before entering service in July. (Puerto Pichilingue)
The California Star also boasts 37 cabins, a VIP lounge and two restaurants, as well as a general seating area for a capacity of 400 passengers per trip. It’s designed to accommodate passengers with special mobility requirements.
“We are a socially responsible company, and with this, we are committed to being key players for the growth and development of the northwestern region of our country,” Ariel Pozo, CEO of Baja Ferries said. “The arrival of the California Star, a ship with the Mexican flag and crew, is proof of this. We continue to reinvest to ensure supply and growth for [BCS residents] for the coming years.”
“We chose to name the new ship the California Star to reflect our commitment to the people of Baja California Sur, as we are a local company and are honored at the way people identify with our boats,” he continued.
The ferry was built in 2009 as the Humber Viking, under the British Norfolk Line. Before arriving in Mexico, however, the California Star operated in the Mediterranean sea with the Eurocargo Sicilia transport firm.
The addition of the ship will allow Baja Ferries to increase capacity between Mazatlán and Baja California by 35% when it enters service in July this year.
Divers demonstrate their equipment during an exhibition in Mazatlán's new Sea of Cortez Aquarium shark tank. (Photos by Rose Egelhoff)
My first impression as I walked into Mazatlán’s new aquarium was confusion.
Several paths diverged near the entrance, all seemingly heading toward the imposing concrete walls of the aquarium. The first of many helpful guides pointed me on my way, explaining that the signage and maps weren’t quite ready yet and encouraging visitors to enter with a spirit of exploration.
The entrance staircase to the aquarium.
It did take some exploring to find the entrance, but it was worth the effort: inside was a magnificent celebration of northwest Mexico’s unique wildlife and marine ecosystems.
The Gran Acuario Mar de Cortés (Sea of Cortez Aquarium) is Mazatlán’s newest attraction — so new that some areas were still under construction when I visited on May 10, a few days after its grand opening.
From the outside, the monolithic building looms ominously over the newly planted gardens and still-under-construction paths, but once inside, my appreciation began to grow. Flowing water and plants cascading down from skylights gave the building a cavernous, almost cathedral-like feeling. I wandered through the different areas of the aquarium, which highlight the land, sea and coastal ecosystems of the Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez).
The first room showcases technical aspects of maintaining an aquarium, with a series of piano-sized machines filtering, monitoring and adjusting parameters to keep the chemical balance and temperature of the water just right.
A blue regal tang in the coral reef exhibit.
Next came terrariums full of snakes, lizards and toads, followed by the first coastal exhibits, including mangroves and a tide pool filled with urchins, starfish and sea cucumbers. In one exhibit, an Instagram-ready artificial wave cascaded down from the ceiling like a waterfall, pummeling a rocky shoal. The signage explained the physics of waves and how some species have adapted to live with constant motion.
A replica coral reef was followed by an enormous shark tank. There is a play area for children and two touch tanks for interacting with rays and starfish (after careful hand washing). At one point during my visit, injured sea turtles in a large tank labeled “Sea Turtle Refuge and Rehabilitation” bobbed up to look at passers-by, apparently curious about the new visitors.
There are also a number of charming smaller exhibits, like a school of shimmering, mirage-like fish – the awkwardly-named Hairfin Lookdown – that showed how marine animals manipulate light to blend in with their surroundings. The fish’s Spanish name, pez espejo (mirror fish), ( seems much more apt.
A visit to the aquarium wraps up on the building’s roof, where visitors can explore a garden of native and ornamental plants that has a view of the city’s Laguna del Camarón (a real, live coastal ecosystem) and the ocean behind it.
A guide shows visitors flounder hiding in the sand of a tank.
While the exhibits were mesmerizing, the real stars of the show were the knowledgeable and enthusiastic guides. During my visit, there was almost always an expert on hand to speak about the exhibits, answer questions and help lost guests find their way.
Most guides I spoke with turned out to be locally trained biologists from the University of Sinaloa’s School of Marine Science or the National Autonomous University (UNAM)’s Limnology and Marine Science Institute, both based in Mazatlán. As the day’s visitors wandered between tanks, guides stationed in each area spoke in depth with groups and individuals about the fish and other species they were seeing and made a valiant effort to keep little hands from tapping on the glass and disturbing the animals.
Getting the aquarium to the point it’s at today has been a long process. After four years of construction, more than 2 billion pesos spent and numerous delays to the opening date, the aquarium celebrated its “grand opening” on May 6.
The formal inauguration, however — originally scheduled for May 15 — was postponed to an unspecified date this month, according to the newspaper Noroeste. When I visited shortly after the grand opening, some key details were still missing: guides told me there will be more signage, printed maps and information modules for non-Spanish speakers (though many guides also speak some English, and at least one guide I spoke to was fluent). Behind temporary fencing, a couple sections of the grounds also appeared to be incomplete.
It’s also quite a change from the old aquarium. Some mazatlecos are unhappy that the ticket price is substantially higher than the old aquarium, even with a locals’ discount. Most international tourists, however, won’t have an issue with the adult price of $380 pesos (US $22). Those familiar with the former aquarium might miss its penguin house and sea lion show, but their closure appears to be temporary: Mayor Édgar Augusto González Zatarain has said both spectacles will be part of the new aquarium in the future.
But until more English-language signage or the planned information modules are installed, the experience will be more rewarding for tourists with at least intermediate Spanish — or who are handy with translation apps. But the architectural beauty and the exhibits will speak to any visitor.
An injured albino turtle in the sea turtle refuge and rehabilitation program. The albino turtles have trouble surviving in the wild due to their lack of camouflage.
The new aquarium is the result of a public-private partnership, with a third of its initial funding coming from the federal government and the rest from Mazatlán businessman and hotelier Ernesto Coppel Kelly.
If the funding keeps flowing, it’s poised to be an important draw for tourists, a valuable resource for the area’s many marine science researchers and an educational tool for locals and tourists alike.
While Mazatlán might be better known for cheap beer and beaches, the new Gran Acuario offers a window into the region’s rich natural beauty. After all, Baja California Sur isn’t the only state that borders what Jacques Cousteau famously called “the world’s aquarium.”
And though there’s still much work to be done, Mazatlán’s new aquarium is off to a promising start.
The aquarium is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day. Tickets are available online at the Gran Acuario website and prospective visitors can keep tabs on updates and changes via the aquarium’s Facebook page.
Steady remittances from the U.S. and nearshoring have been highlighted as some of the reasons for the currency's appreciation against the U.S. dollar. (Stock image)
The Mexican peso appreciated to its strongest level against the US dollar in seven years on Monday, but weakened slightly on Tuesday.
The peso gained around 0.9% on Monday to trade at 17.42 to the US dollar, its strongest level since May 2016.
Economists say nearshoring trends in Mexico will serve to strengthen the peso further. (Rmcarvalho/Istock)
When markets closed on Tuesday, one greenback was trading at 17.48 pesos, according to the Bank of Mexico (Banxico). Even with the slight decline, the peso is almost 11% stronger than it was at the start of the year.
“The Mexican peso continues to go from strength to strength. Banxico’s policy of matching the Fed hiking cycle is really paying dividends,” wrote Chris Turner, ING’s global head of markets, in an article posted to the bank’s website.
“And the peso stands to be the prime beneficiary of nearshoring trends,” he added, referring to the relocation of companies to Mexico to be close to the United States market.
At 11.25%, Banxico’s benchmark interest rate is in fact well above the United States Federal Reserve’s 5%-5.25% rate, a situation seen as favorable for the peso.
Decisions by the central bank to keep interest rates between 600-650 basis points above the United States has helped consolidate the strength of the peso, and provided stability, according to experts. (Wikimedia)
Turner wrote that “Banxico’s maintenance of a 600-650 basis point spread above Fed rates has helped USD/MXN volatility levels fall and [allowed] the peso [to] stand out as the world’s preferred carry trade currency.”
He noted that the board of Mexico’s central bank will meet this Thursday to discuss monetary policy, and said that “one last hike” to 11.5% is possible before the tightening cycle is paused or stopped.
Carlos González, director of economic analysis at the Monex financial group, said that the possibility that the Fed – which raised rates earlier this month – has already reached the end of its tightening cycle has benefited the peso.
Omar Larré, co-founder of investment management company Fintual, said that the “attractive level” of interest rates in Mexico and the “perception” that the peso is “low risk” have contributed to the appreciation of the Mexican currency.
The high level of remittances flowing into Mexico – almost US $14 billion in the first quarter of 2023 – is also a positive for the peso, while President López Obrador has pointed to his government’s economic management, including its predilection for austerity, as a factor in the currency’s current strength.
However, as the news agency Reuters reported, some analysts attribute the peso’s recent gains to a weakening of the greenback.
Luis Gonzali, a portfolio manager with investment firm Franklin Templeton, said that a decline in the value of the US dollar – most recently due to the possibility that the U.S. Congress won’t approve an increase to the United States’ debt ceiling before the end of May – has benefited the peso.
“A big part of [the peso’s strength] is the dollar’s weakness,” he said.
However, Gonzali also acknowledged that incoming investment flows and Mexico’s healthier finances compared to those of other emerging market economies have benefited the peso.
Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis at Mexican bank Banco Base, said that the peso could continue appreciating to 17.05 pesos to the US dollar in the near term due to the expectation that the Fed won’t continue lifting interest rates.
That expectation causes capital to move out of the United States to other countries, including Mexico, she said.
“However, in the medium term the peso could moderately depreciate … [as a result of] lower flows of dollars into the country due to the possibility of a recession in the United States,” Siller said.
President López Obrador is refusing to cede the leadership of the Pacific Alliance to Peruvian president Dina Boluarte, in an international crisis that is become increasingly heated. (Presidencia Perú/Twitter)
Peru’s Foreign Ministry has condemned President López Obrador’s “irresponsible” rejection of Peruvian President Dina Boluarte after AMLO refused to cede Boluarte the presidency of the Pacific Alliance, which should have passed to Peru six months ago.
Peruvian Foreign Minister Ana Cecilia Gervasi criticized both AMLO and Colombian President Gustavo Petro for their continued support of ousted Peruvian president Pedro Castillo.
AMLO is a staunch ally of deposed president Pedro Castillo, who he says is persecuted for refusing to allow foreign interests to exploit Peruvians. (Presidencia)
“The Peruvian Foreign Ministry expresses its categorical rejection of the recent and reiterated interventionist, irresponsible and ideological declarations of Colombia’s Mr. Petro and Mexico’s Mr López, who insist on ignoring the coup d’état perpetrated by ex-president Pedro Castillo on 7 December 2022, and the legitimate and constitutional succession of President Dina Boluarte Zegarra,” the Ministry said in a press statement.
The comments came after López Obrador again refused to hand over leadership of the Pacific Alliance trading bloc to Boluarte, accusing her of “usurping” Castillo’s position. Castillo currently has an approval rating of only around 25% amongst Peruvians.
“There are four countries [in the Pacific Alliance]: Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru,” AMLO said at his morning press conference. “The opinion of the Colombian president is similar to mine and that of the Chilean president [Gabriel Boric], as he also isn’t interested in giving Peru the presidency.”
“I would remind [Boluarte] to leave the [Peruvian] presidency to Pedro Castillo, who won in a free and democratic election, to leave the presidency because she is usurping that position and to get Pedro Castillo out of jail,” AMLO added.
Boluarte took power after a period of political unrest, becoming the fifth president of Peru since November 2020. (Cuartoscuro)
“[Boluarte has] imprisoned President Castillo just because of his popular origin, and because he didn’t lend himself to the Peruvian and foreign oligarchy looting Peru as they are doing.”
AMLO first threatened to resist handing over the presidency to Boluarte in February, saying he would consult with other alliance members but that he believed giving Peru the presidency would “legitimize a coup.”
Mexico held the Alliance presidency through 2022 and was due to pass on leadership to Peru in November, but the transfer was delayed due to the constitutional crisis in Peru, which led to Castillo’s ousting in December. Castillo was arrested after attempting to dissolve Congress ahead of a vote to impeach him on corruption charges.
AMLO was an outspoken supporter of Castillo throughout the crisis, granting asylum to Castillo’s wife and children and puttingdiplomatic relations “on hold” with the government of incoming President Dina Boluarte.
In response, Peru expelled the Mexican ambassador in December andwithdrew its own ambassador to Mexico in February.
Following AMLO’s most recent comments, Gervasi accused the Mexican president of undermining the work of the Alliance, and made an implicit threat of international legal action.
Failure to deliver the presidency could “have consequences in the international legal community,” she warned.
“The position assumed by Mr. López of not handing over the presidency of the Pacific Alliance to Peru is a manifestation of the level of negligence with which he guides his actions in the foreign sphere, which affects the successful process of integration in recent times and, even worse, the needs of its population,” she said.
“The failure of Mr. López to deliver the presidency pro tempore of the Pacific Alliance constitutes the breach of an international obligation by Mexico, which may lead to international responsibility for that State.”
Emy Saldana is the owner of Oaxaca City’s fastest-growing nail salon chain, Glow Beauty Bar. (Photos courtesy of the author)
Dressed in a black suit, Emy Saldana walks briskly toward the bank; she’s been working there for almost 12 months, but today will be one of the busiest days of the year, and she’s their No. 1 seller. In three months, she’ll be the branch’s youngest-ever manager.
Saldana arrives and quickly makes a coffee before exchanging pleasantries with her colleagues seated behind a glass barrier.
Matamoros, where Emy Saldana grew up, has seen increased violence since the early 2000’s. (Wikimedia Commons)
The coffee’s not gone cold before she hears the first crash. The glass-paneled door shatters into the entrance hall as masked men beat the doorframe down with hammers.
Screams mix dissonantly with the shrill of security alarms, and Saldana freezes. Her vision blurs and her hands go numb. The assailants bark orders from behind their masks, telling the crowd to lie face down on the floor, which now shimmers with pieces of broken glass.
Saldana makes for the side door, but she’s cut off by one of the men, who kicks her to the ground before one pushes the cold barrel of a pistol hard into her forehead.
This is Matamoros, Tamaulipas, in the early 2000s, the scene of one of two bank robberies Saldana witnessed while she worked as a teller in northern Mexico.
Glow Beauty Bar has locations in the Reforma and San Felipe neighborhoods of Oaxaca city. Find the salon on Instagram at @glowbeautybar.oax.
The same city made headlines in March this year as the setting of the kidnapping of 4 Americans, two of whom were killed. It remains on a U.S. government list of seven “do not visit” states in Mexico.
“There were tough times when I was starting out, but I needed to experience them to become stronger,” Saldana says. “I used to take things really personally, and after the bank robbery, it really felt like the world was against me. With [some] perspective now, I can see it actually taught me to take more control of things within my reach and be more fearless in business and my personal life.”
Saldana tells me this story as we sit across from each other at her first salon, Glow Beauty Bar, in Oaxaca city.
It’s 7:30 a.m. in the bustling and convivial Reforma neighborhood, and the May morning sun bathes the airy salon in golden light. Elegant hardwood stations, wall panels and pastel colors create a warm atmosphere. Reed grass in retro glass vases sway in the breeze as the door opens and store manager Daniela arrives with several bottles of sparkling wine.
It’s Glow Beauty Bar’s first anniversary today.
Running her own business had always been Saldana’s dream, but the road to learning the necessary skills was not without challenges.
Saldana was inspired by the fun she had chatting with nail technicians in Shanghai and Texas.
Going to college, for example, was never in the cards. Saldana’s destiny, according to her father, was to meet a man and get pregnant at 16. Shunning this, she got a marketing degree to support her own ambition. She sold raffle tickets outside her church every Christmas to fund her tuition herself. Working day jobs and studying into the early hours of the morning became her routine.
While studying, Saldana met her husband, Hector, and after graduating, they moved to China, where Shanghai became home for two years.
“As a woman growing up in northern Mexico, I’d become used to being pigeonholed into traditional female roles. As a teenager, this was perpetuated by the men in my life. From the moment I met Hector, though, he was always encouraging me to think big, [to] be braver and trust in myself.”
Both Saldana and her husband eventually left China for Houston, and subsequently Austin, Texas. She founded an insurance business there, and the couple led a happy, comfortable life.
I ask exactly what brought her back to Mexico.
“Mexico is more than just my childhood home,” she says. “It’s where everything began with Hector and me, and it’s where the fire inside me to succeed was first lit. I’ve never shaken my goal of running a business here.”
Emy Saldana (center) says the women she works with are her greatest motivation to succeed.
The two of them found Oaxaca after a “week-long chance visit” in early 2021. By September of that year, they had packed up their things and found an apartment north of the city.
“In both China and the U.S., I’d always loved to visit nail salons. I practiced my English with nail technicians in Shanghai, and I loved the social side of chatting with people in Texas. In Oaxaca, I fell in love with the people, the atmosphere — and the fun I had during my nail appointments was best of all.”
Six months after relocating to Oaxaca, Saldana sat down to have her fortnightly manicure with a young 17-year-old named Daniela, who had become a friend after several months of regular appointments.
“She was talented and kind in equal measure,” she says. “When she told me she was leaving to work at another salon, I saw an opportunity to take her under my wing. We discussed working together over her lunch break, and her eagerness to learn was obvious. I remember rushing home to plan the idea for what became Glow Beauty Bar. I would find, acquire and design the space, and Daniela would run the salon as her own.”
Months of intensive planning, site visits and sleepless nights followed, and in May 2022, Saldana was ready to launch the salon.
“Friends and family filled our booking sheet in the first weeks,” she says with a wry smile. “Then it really was up to us to push the business to new audiences. I gave everything to promoting Glow to locals, tourists, and expats, and very quickly we saw a big uptick in bookings.”
Hardwood accents give Glow Beauty Bar an inviting and intimate feel.
Three months after launch, bookings increased month-by-month by an average of 45%. Clients are treated with kindness, offered coffee, cold drinks and even a complimentary cookie hand made by a local chef. The salon experience is as important as the final product, Saldana tells me.
“We train staff intensively to ensure a consistently excellent experience. Our profit went straight back into the business to buy the best equipment and we held staff meetings every night to discuss specific client feedback,” she says. “If one of the girls received a particularly positive review for a hand massage, for example, I asked them to teach everyone exactly how they did it that same evening.”
The second Glow Beauty Bar in San Felipe, Oaxaca opened in April this year and is managed by Saldana’s third-ever hire, Monse. No additional investment was required to open and hire a new team to work at the latest salon. Saldana now employs a total of 11 women, and expansion plans are in motion.
I ask Saldana what motivates her to succeed in the beauty industry; she turns away from me and looks at the three young women getting ready to welcome their clients through the glass door.
“I want to be the mentor I never had to younger women in Oaxaca,” she says. “I see part of myself in everyone working here and helping them to grow has been the proudest achievement of my life.”
Gordon Cole-Schmidt is a public relations specialist and freelance journalist, advising and writing on companies and issues across multi-national communication programs.
After moving to Mexico, Janet Blaser is spending her later years living her best life in Mazatlán, surfing every chance she gets. (Matt Mawson)
I found this quote scribbled into a journal I kept when I first moved to Mazatlán more than 15 years ago:
“To be sure, she was exhausted; obviously she was confused; but she was excited, as well. She felt that she was caught up in some chaotic but grand adventure that was lifting her out of context and placing her beyond the normal constraints of society.”
This quote, from Tom Robbins’ book “Jitterbug Perfume,” made me chuckle; obviously that’s how I felt at the time. And it’s how I often feel even now: If we’re lucky, life is full of surprises. The challenge is to see them as such and go forward happily, enthusiastically, maybe somewhat confidently, even when the unknown and unexpected seem to loom on the horizon.
I don’t think I realized the scope or significance of this passage until now, years into what will perhaps be the biggest adventure of my life. Some have called this — and me — courageous, shaking their heads as they try to imagine doing the same, finding they’re able only to step back and flatten themselves against the strong, solid wall of the known and familiar.
Beyond a certain shadowy point, I find that boring, and I know in my heart that I don’t want to spend the rest of my life — however many precious days remain — making “safe” decisions.
The thing is, the more one steps outside the box, or even looks outside the box, the easier it is to do so again. Consciously or unconsciously, these kinds of decisions affect our entire outlook on life, and it becomes easier to choose the less-traveled path, to arrive at a fork in the road and go the other way despite — or because of — the mysterious chaos that might be ahead.
Personally, I’ve been compelled by curiosity my whole life; my mother used to say I did “too much, too fast.” I don’t want to miss “the grand adventure” if I can help it.
Questions like “What if?” “Can I?” and “Suppose…” haunt me until I take action and head off, preferably toward something new, toward an I-don’t-know-where-or-what odyssey. Other times I’m led by an unconscious desire to explore, to do or know or see something different — “to be lifted out of context and placed beyond the normal constraints of society.”
As I’ve gotten older, I find I have less and less patience with staying on the proverbial fence. I do it (up to a certain point) but am eager to weigh whichever pros and cons I can figure out as quickly as possible and just get on with it.
And if my decision ends up being uncomfortable or — oops! — not what I thought it would be, well, I’m happy to switch directions and try the other way. (Usually.)
But what inevitably happens to all of us — the way life works — is that the unknown becomes familiar more quickly than we think. As expats living in Mexico, we learn some Spanish, maybe deal with tropical heat, make new and different friends, eat new and different foods. What once seemed impossible or unheard of — too “chaotic,” too “grand an adventure” — becomes our own life, our “norm,” how we live day-to-day.
To be sure, we might be exhausted or confused — but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The collision occurred on the Hidalgo-Zaragoza highway near Ciudad Victoria. (SSP Tamaulipas/Facebook)
At least 27 people were killed in a fiery crash on a highway in Tamaulipas on Sunday morning.
The Public Security Ministry (SSP) in the northern border state said that a tractor-trailer and a van collided on the Hidalgo-Zaragoza highway in the municipality of Güémez, near the capital city of Ciudad Victoria.
Local news reports said that the van’s passengers appeared to be members of the same family. Many of the deceased have not yet been identified. (SSP Tamaulipas/Facebook)
Both vehicles subsequently caught fire, the SSP said in a post on its Facebook page. According to preliminary reports, the bodies of most victims were badly burned.
The SSP initially reported 13 deaths, but the number was revised to 27 later on Sunday.
The ministry said that when state police arrived, the tractor carrying the freight trailer was not there, suggesting that the driver uncoupled the truck and fled the scene.
A source at the Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office told the Reuters news agency that investigators could not yet confirm whether the driver fled or was killed in the accident.
The van was reportedly traveling from the state of Veracruz to Monterrey, Nuevo León. Children were among the passengers who lost their lives in the accident.
Reciban un abrazo afectuoso y nuestras condolencias, familiares y allegados de las personas que perdieron la vida esta mañana en el accidente de la carretera Güémez -Zaragoza. pic.twitter.com/k7grg3HmwS
— Américo Villarreal (@Dr_AVillarreal) May 14, 2023
Tamaulipas Governor Américo Villarreal left messages of condolences to the victims’ families on Twitter on Sunday. (Américo Villarreal/Twitter)
The truck was transporting air conditioners, according to a Univision report.
Reuters’ source said that all the victims were believed to be Mexican, as authorities recovered national ID cards.
Governor Américo Villareal Anaya sent his condolences to the victims’ families in a message posted to Twitter. He said he had instructed authorities to investigate the cause of the accident and provide “all possible help” to the victims’ relatives.
Last year's hurricane season saw intense rains, especially in the Caribbean. Hurricane Lisa, a Category 1 hurricane, made landfall in Campeche. (Michael Balam/Cuartoscuro)
The National Meteorological Service (SMN) predicts that between 26 and 38 storms will form in the Eastern Pacific and Atlantic oceans during the 2023 hurricane season.
As many as nine of those storms could be Category 3, 4 or 5 hurricanes, according to SMN forecasts.
Highway damage at the Juluchuca bridge in Petatlán, Guerrero after Hurricane Rick in 2021. (Protección Civil Guerrero)
The Eastern Pacific hurricane season begins Monday, May 15, while the Atlantic season starts June 1. Both seasons run through Nov. 30.
The forecast for the Pacific is 16–22 storms, including three to five Category 3, 4 or 5 hurricanes. The SMN anticipates four to six Category 1 or 2 hurricanes and nine to 11 tropical storms.
SMN chief Alejandra Margarita Méndez Girón told a virtual press conference that the El Niño climate pattern was a factor in the greater-than-usual hurricane activity predicted for the Pacific this year.
The forecast for the Atlantic is 10–16 storms, including two to four Category 3, 4 or 5 hurricanes, one to three Category 1 or 2 hurricanes and seven to nine tropical storms.
There were 19 named storms in the Eastern Pacific last year, including 11 hurricanes. The Atlantic saw 15 named storms, including nine hurricanes.
The category 2 hurricane (maximum sustained winds between 154 and 177 kilometers per hour) was the strongest Pacific storm to make landfall in Mexico in the month of May since records began over 70 years ago. Agatha caused extensive damage in Oaxaca and claimed at least nine lives.
