The peso has appreciated about 9% against the US dollar since the beginning of the year. (Depositphotos)
The Mexican peso appreciated to its strongest level against the US dollar in almost six years on Wednesday, with one greenback buying 17.83 pesos at one point in the trading day.
The value of the dollar had increased to 17.92 pesos by the end of the day on Wednesday, while one greenback was worth a slightly lower 17.90 pesos when North American markets closed on Thursday.
The peak the peso achieved on Wednesday was the currency’s strongest level since September 2017.
The currency’s appreciation by as much as 0.8% on Wednesday came after the United States Federal Reserve announced an interest rate increase of 25 basis points to a range of 5%-5.25%, and suggested that its monetary policy tightening cycle, which began in March 2022, might have come to an end.
In a statement announcing the 25-basis-point hike, the Fed – in contrast to previous statements – didn’t say that it anticipated that further increases would be needed. That omission prompted emerging-market assets to appreciate, the Bloomberg news agency reported.
Erick Martinez Magaña, a strategist with Barclays in New York, said that stable interest rates in the United States and a “still resilient U.S. economy” are a “bullish combination” for the Mexican peso.
Manufacturers have been relocating operations from Asia to Mexico in a phenomenon known as “nearshoring”, which experts say is part of why the peso has strengthened. (Government of Mexico)
The peso, which has appreciated about 9% against the dollar since the start of the year, has already been bolstered by factors including high interest rates in Mexico – currently 11.25% – and strong remittances, which totaled almost US $14 billion in the first quarter of 2023.
The relocation of companies to Mexico – a growing phenomenon known as nearshoring – has also benefited the peso as it has increased demand for the currency.
“The issue of nearshoring and remittances gives a very positive perspective to the peso,” said Alfredo Puig, a trader with Monterrey-based brokerage Vector.
Deputy Finance Minister Gabriel Yorio told Bloomberg earlier this week that further appreciation of the peso could affect demand for Mexican exports, as they would become more expensive.
“However, it is not yet inhibiting exports or economic activity,” he said.
Yorio declined to say whether there was a particular exchange rate level that would be of concern to policymakers.
Mexican high diver Jonathan Paredes is part of a team trying to raise money on social media to fund a trip to the Diving World Cup in Florida. (Jonathan Paredes/Instagram)
Star Wars symphonic concert in Mexico City for May the 4th
— INJUVE CIUDAD DE MÉXICO (@InjuveCDMX) May 4, 2023
“‘Patience you must master, young padawan, May the 4th be with you…’ See you there!” the National Youth Institute (INJUVE) announced on Twitter.
While Star Wars Day’s origins go back to informal celebrations by fans of the movies, its annual date stems from a story published by the London Evening News on May 4, 1979, in which members of the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom congratulated Margaret Thatcher on her newly-won position as Prime Minister.
“May the 4th Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations,” the article said, a pun on “May the Force be with you,” the line made famous by “Star Wars,” which had premiered only two years earlier. Some years later, fans would use the pun when choosing a date for Star Wars Day.
This is the second edition of the Star Wars symphonic concert. The music will be performed by the INJUVE Symphony Orchestra and conducted by César Uriel Hernández, the orchestra’s artistic director. It will be held at 7 p.m. in the Venustiano Carranza borough.
From TV meth cooks to real-life mezcal producers
The leading actors of Breaking Bad, Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston, spoke to Jetset magazine about Dos Hombres, the mezcal brand they launched in 2019.
The duo told Jetset that before starting their business, they deeply studied the spirit’s tradition and embarked on frequent trips south of the border where they discovered Gregorio Velasco, “the tercer hombre” behind their brand.
A third generation maestro mezcalero (master mezcal maker), Velasco brought to life the actors’ vision of bringing mezcal to the public. “This is all self-funded by Bryan and [me] from the very beginning,” Paul told Jetset, saying they wanted “to create an accessible and perfect mezcal.”
The two Breaking Bad stars enjoying their mezcal. (Dos Hombres/Instagram)
The actors talked about Velasco with the utmost respect. “Every time we go down to Mexico and visit our maestro… he teaches us something different,” Cranston said. However, the actor said that Velasco has kept – and will continue to keep – the Dos Hombres recipe tightly hidden. “We don’t even know it,” Cranston said.
When asked about the company’s goal, Cranston said that he and Paul want to “share the joy” and do things that are “beneficial for people,” both in Mexico and the United States. For the duo, the business is not about the money. “We have never gone after a money plateau,” Cranston said
However, Paul admits they want to keep building their brand. “We want to keep educating people on what mezcal is, and swing for that number one spot.”
Luis Miguel announces 2023 tour
After much anticipation from his fans, Luis Miguel has finally announced dates for his 2023 tour, the singer’s first since 2019.
The Mexican pop star will be touring cities throughout Latin America and the United States this year. (Wikimedia Commons)
The 43-date tour through Latin America and the United States will kick off Aug. 3 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Luis Miguel will then move on to Chile and other parts of Latin America before heading to the U.S., where he will tour major cities like Chicago, Las Vegas, Miami and Los Angeles. He will wrap up the trek on Dec. 17 in Guadalajara.
In Mexico, “El Sol de México” (“The Sun of Mexico”) will visit at least 11 states, including Mexico City, where he will sing on November 21, 22 and 24 at the Mexico City Arena, which comes as a surprise, as he had always performed at the National Auditorium. However, no information has been released as to when tickets will be available for sale in the country.
In the United States, tickets are already available through Ticketmaster. And in Argentina, tickets sold out just two hours after their release, CNN reported.
Luis Miguel is one of Latin music’s biggest stars. Among his many records is that set by his 2010 “Luis Miguel Tour” as the longest and highest-grossing tour that any Latino artist has ever made. He is also the first Mexican artist to surpass 8 billion streams on Spotify.
Divers raise money to attend the World Aquatics Diving World Cup
The Mexican Swimming Federation’s (FMN) withdrawal of financial support has led Mexican divers to raise money on social media to attend the 2023 World Aquatics High Diving World Cup in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
With the support of former Mexican diver Adriana Jiménez, the Mexican high diving team, made up of Jonathan Paredes, Sergio Guzmán, Diego Rizo, Yolotl Cabral and Alejandra Aguilar, launched a campaign on social networks to raise $200,000 pesos (US $11,000) to cover travel expenses to the World Cup.
“We want to make an urgent call to Mexican society. The World Cup is just around the corner and we do not have any kind of financial support to be able to attend,” Paredes said in a video.
The amount raised would help the members of the Mexican national team to cover their food, air travel tickets and lodging expenses before May 20. The World Cup will take place on May 26 and 27.
“We have trained hard to represent our country with pride,” Paredes said.
A new national cinema to open in Bosque de Chapultepec
In addition to being Mexico City’s iconic park, the Bosque de Chapultepec is also a cultural center with museums, galleries and later this year, a new national cinema (cineteca).
An aerial view of the giant Bosque de Chapultepec in Mexico City. (Santiago Arau/Gob MX)
As part of the “Chapultepec: Nature and Culture” project, which has rehabilitated old spaces in the forest and opened new leisure spaces in collaboration with several artists, the new cineteca will show a range of national and international movies in eight auditoriums. The two largest will hold 400 viewers at a time, four will seat up to 200 and two smaller ones will seat 100. The existing national cinema – which is Mexico’s central film archive – is a Mexico City landmark located in Coyoacán’s colonia Xoco.
A wooded outdoor forum reminiscent of the cinema in Coyoacán is also part of the construction plan. The venue will also have cafeterias, restaurants, shops and bars, and be host to workshops and exhibitions.
Though initially planned for the end of 2021, the new cinema’s opening is now scheduled for the last quarter of 2023.
The studio of Mexican architect Mauricio Rocha is in charge of its construction.
Albañiles in Campeche erect a cross to protect their construction site from misfortune. May 3 marks an annual day of celebration for those in the trade. (Michel Balam/Cuartoscuro)
On May 3, many cities across Spain and Latin America commemorate the festival known as the Day of the Holy Cross.
Mexican builders at some point adopted the cross as their patron, which is why in Mexico, May 3 is also known as día de los albañiles (Construction Workers’ Day).
“God didn’t make the world. It was us, the albañiles.” (Twitter)
Why exactly the cross became such an important symbol for albañiles isn’t clear, but it’s tradition here on this day to place a cross decorated with natural or paper flowers atop buildings or houses under construction.
To celebrate Day of the Holy Cross, construction workers share a meal together, usually paid for by the project manager or the person who owns the site being built. In this edition of Mexico in Numbers, we take a look at the data on albañiles and the nation’s construction industry.
According to the government’s Data México platform, at the end of 2022, 1.63 million people were employed in the category of construction workers, stonemasons and related jobs nationwide – of which 90.2% were in the informal sector. This means that more than 1 million construction workers do not have social security or any other legal benefits despite working long hours in a perilous job.
This is far higher than the percentage of workers in the labor market as a whole who have informal jobs (55.1% in Q4 2022), underscoring the vulnerability of these workers.
Although a construction worker’s income varies based on factors such as the type of work he performs, the length of a project and which state in which he is working, the average salary for a construction worker who worked 5.3 days per week in Q4 2022 was 7,400 pesos per month (roughly US $412), according to numbers from the National Occupation and Employment Survey (ENOE).
The states with the best salaries per month for construction workers are Baja California Sur, with 13,100 pesos (US $502); Nayarit, with 11,300 pesos (US $467); and Sinaloa with 10,700 pesos (US $462).
Data México also reported that just over 39% of those employed in the construction industry had 7 to 9 years of schooling.
By standards established by the General Education Law, some 635,700 construction workers therefore finished middle school. The average worker age is 44 years old.
In Q4 of 2022, a mere 1.23% of the construction workers were female.
According to the national statistics agency (INEGI) in February 2023, the number of workers in the construction of commercial, industrial and residential buildings increased 2.7% over 2022.
COVID-19 hit the industry hard. According to experts, the historical average contribution of the construction industry to Mexico’s GDP has been 7.5%. However, by the end of 2022, it was only 6%.
There are some signs of recovery however: INEGI data shows the construction sector grew at an annual rate of 6.8% in February, and new estimations indicate that this year, it could continue to grow as much as 2.2%.
While these figures show improvement in the industry, BBVA economists Carlos Serrano, Marissa González and Samuel Vázquez recently told the newspaper El Economista that this is far from a total recovery.
A rendering of the new Puuc Archaeological Museum that will hold artifacts found during Maya Train construction. The government broke ground on the project in Yucatán on Wednesday. (INAH)
A selection of “extraordinary pieces” found during archaeological rescue work on the Maya Train route will be displayed in museums in Yucatán, one which will be a renovation and another that broke ground Wednesday.
The first stone of the Puuc Archaeological Museum was laid on Wednesday, marking the beginning of construction on a cultural center that will eventually cover 4,800 square meters, in the Kabah archaeological zone south of Mérida.
In addition to renovating Dzibilchaltún’s museum, the government will also restore the site’s famous Temple of the Seven Dolls. (INAH/Twitter)
The museum will house around 360 artifacts recovered from Section 3 of the Maya Train route, on display for the first time. It will also be a space for cultural activities and presentations.
“We are making a museum in an area where there has been no investment of this nature in cultural, academic and scientific subjects over the years,” said Arturo Chab Cárdenas, head of the Yucatán delegation of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
“The construction of the museum will settle a historic debt in the area.”
He said that local Mayan communities had been consulted on the development of the museum, which will be inaugurated in December this year.
The federal government has heavily promoted the fact that several artifacts — including some significant finds — have been discovered in the process of building the Maya Train. This image is from an exhibit of the recovered objects, held at the cultural center at Los Pinos in Mexico City in February. (INAH)
At President López Obrador’s Monday morning press conference, INAH general director Diego Prieto Hernández announced that another museum, in the Dzibilchaltún archeological zone just north of Mérida, is currently under restoration.
“[This will] incorporate, through a new museography discourse, the most recent research on what is considered one of the largest known sets of pre-Columbian ruins, a center of importance from before our era until the time of the Spanish conquest,” Prieto Hernández said.
He added that conservation work is underway on Dzibilchaltún’s Temple of the Seven Dolls, a Mayan complex from around A.D. 750. This is supported by the Program for the Improvement of Archaeological Zones (Promeza) — a program designed to improve infrastructure at archaeological sites that are expected to receive an increase in tourism once the Maya Train is operational.
Around 85% to 90% of the artifacts recovered from Section 3 of the Maya Train route — which runs from Calkiní, Campeche, to Izamal, Yucatán, have now been classified, he said.
A rendering of what the Puuc Archaeological Museum would look like inside. (Maya Train/Twitter)
Prieto Hernández also described how more than 30 engineering adjustments have been made to the Maya Train to protect archeological sites along the route, including “verticalizing” a slope cut for a bridge in Tenosique, Tabasco, near an ancient Mayan settlement.
Care has been taken to protect cave systems and cenotes, he added, explaining that a cable bridge is being constructed through one cave system near the Paamul II site to give access to tourists.
The Maya Train has previously come under intense criticism from environmentalists, who fear the impact that the infrastructure and increased tourism will have on the region’s fragile ecosystems, communities and geological formations.
The troops are being deployed to support Customs and Border Patrol for 90 days; they will not participate directly in law enforcement, according to authorities.(CBP/Wikimedia)
The United States government will send 1,500 members of the military to the U.S.-Mexico border next week ahead of the expiration of a COVID-related border control.
Large numbers of migrants are expected to attempt to cross into the United States over its southern border following the May 11 lifting of Title 42, a pandemic-era provision that allows asylum seekers in the U.S. to be immediately expelled to Mexico, without recourse to legal hearings, due to the threat to public health they allegedly pose.
U.S. authorities have been planning for the expiration of Title 42 and an anticipated surge of crossings by migrants. (Cuartoscuro)
The United States Department of Defense (DoD) said in a statement Tuesday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had approved a temporary increase of 1,500 military personnel to “supplement U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) efforts on the U.S. southwest border,” where 2,500 U.S. National Guard members are already deployed.
The approval was issued in response to a request from the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees CBP.
“For 90 days, these 1,500 military personnel will fill critical capability gaps, such as ground-based detection and monitoring, data entry, and warehouse support, until CBP can address these needs through contracted support,” the DoD said.
“Military personnel will not directly participate in law enforcement activities. This deployment to the border is consistent with other forms of military support to DHS over many years.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas at a press conference announcing measures to reduce illegal immigration. (DHS/Twitter)
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre also stressed that the troops would not perform “law enforcement functions” or interact with migrants. The deployment of the soldiers and marines will “free up Border Patrol agents to perform their critical law enforcement duties,” she told a press conference Tuesday.
The plan comes as some Republican Party figures continue to blame President Joe Biden and his administration for what they see as a “crisis” on the United States’ border with Mexico.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, one of the most prominent critics, this week advised Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to “call on … Biden to secure the border in response to her request that Texas stop transporting migrants to her self-declared sanctuary city.”
The decision to deploy additional troops to the border, the Associated Press reported, signals that the Biden administration is “taking seriously an effort to tamp down the number of illegal crossings, a potent source of Republican attacks, and sends a message to potential border crossers not to attempt the journey.”
Texas governor Greg Abbott has been a loud critical voice of President Biden’s immigration policies. (Greg Abbott/Twitter)
However, it “also draws potentially unwelcome comparisons to Biden’s Republican predecessor, whose policies Biden frequently criticized,” AP added.
A record number of migrants crossed into the United States via Mexico in the 2022 U.S. fiscal year, even as the Title 42 provision was in effect.
The announcement of the deployment of additional troops to the border, which is slated to take place by next Wednesday, came after the United States government said last week that it would aim to quickly screen migrants seeking asylum in the U.S., promptly deport those who don’t qualify and penalize those who enter the U.S. illegally or pass through another country illegally on their way to the U.S. border.
After crossing into the country from Guatemala, many migrants travel through Mexico to the U.S. border without obtaining any documents from Mexican immigration authorities.
However, the federal government has sought to crack down on the practice, deploying both immigration agents and National Guard troops to detain undocumented migrants, many of whom come from a handful of Western Hemisphere countries. The United States announced a program in January that opens up new pathways to the U.S. for Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Cubans and Haitians while seeking to deter migrants migrants of those nationalities entering the U.S. illegally or applying for asylum after traveling to the border via Mexico.
President López Obrador stressed Tuesday that the United States is an “independent” and “sovereign” country and thus was within its rights to send 1,500 troops to the border.
“They take these [kinds of] decisions and we respect them,” he told reporters.
The United States’ announcement of the deployment came the same day as López Obrador met with U.S. Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall to discuss migration and other issues of mutual interest.
The two countries subsequently released a joint statement “announcing a set of additional measures to address the humanitarian situation caused by unprecedented migration flows at our shared border and in the region.”
U.S. Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall met with President López Obrador on Tuesday. (AMLO/Twitter)
Mexico and the United States pledged to “increase joint actions to counter-human smugglers and traffickers that are exploiting migrants” and “to continue to enhance their efforts in Central America to address the root causes of migration and expand legal pathways.”
They also recognized “the great potential value of the regional processing centers that the United States announced last week, and discussed how Mexico can contribute to their effectiveness”; committed to continue a “successful joint initiative” that “combines expanded legal pathways with consequences for irregular migration; and affirmed their commitment to modernizing their shared border, which measures over 3,000 kilometers between Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and Tijuana, Baja California on the Mexican side.
Louisa Rogers ran a writing group for Mexican senior women in Guanajuato that she started herself. Eight women came weekly to write and share their stories. (Courtesy)
“Por mi cuenta” is a Spanish phrase that means “on my own.” In this article, Guanajuato resident Louisa Rogers talks about how she and her husband created their own volunteer opportunities in Mexico when her snowbird lifestyle prevented her from making longer-term commitments to organizations.
In 2005, my husband Barry and I bought a house in Guanajuato, where we spend part of each year. We knew when we began our life in Mexico that we’d want to involve ourselves in the local community.
There are several outstanding nonprofits in Guanajuato, but since we aren’t here year-round, we decided to create our own independent volunteer projects.
When Louisa Rogers and her husband Barry moved to the city of Guanajuato, they decided to take up volunteering to give back and also learn about Mexico. (Alex Person/Unsplash)
In my case, I decided it would be easier to work with people with whom I had something in common — which often, but not always, turned out to be women and seniors. Among the volunteer projects I’ve had over 17 years, here are four that stand out:
Wellness presentations to lower-income moms
Five years ago, I approached the local branch of DIF, the Mexican governmental agency dedicated to strengthening families, and offered to give working moms talks on exercise, nutrition and stress.
I didn’t want to come across as a know-it-all, telling the women in the audience what they “should” do, but rather to honor their wisdom. With that I mind, I focused more on the healthy habits I had observed Mexicans already doing and less about changes they could make to improve.
DIF is a nonprofit quasi-governmental agency in Mexico that helps families with a wide variety of social programs. The writer went to her local DIF office and volunteered to run a wellness support group for low-income mothers. This photo is for illustrative purposes. (José Roberto Guerra/Cuartoscuro)
In my talk on exercise, for example, I started off asking them how they had arrived at the center where I was giving the presentation. All but two had arrived on foot. Congratulating them, I said, “You’re actually far fitter because you walk everyday than many of my paisanos who drive all the time.”
During the series, some of my misconceptions about Mexico were dispelled. One of my beliefs had been that in Mexico, a very group-oriented culture, solitude is not valued much. But after my talk on stress, I came away with a different insight.
When I asked the participants to share examples of places where they felt the most relaxed, one woman, a housecleaner, told us that her favorite place was a foreigner’s home where she cleaned every week.
“It’s the only place where I’m completely alone,” she said.
Another woman said, “My own home — but after my husband and the kids leave for the day!”
At the end of the series, the program coordinator honored me with not only a certificate of thanks but also the gift of a red shawl. No honor I’ve ever received has meant so much to me.
One thing the writer learned by volunteering is how much more common it is for Mexicans to walk to places rather than drive. (Moisés Pablo Nava/Cuartoscuro)
A writing group for seniors
Another year, I went back to DIF and proposed a writing group for seniors. Every week, about eight women showed up. I’d offer themes such as La Hora del Desayuno Donde Vivo (The Breakfast Hour Where I Live), Mis Hermanos y Hermanas (My Brothers and Sisters), and Mi Mejor Amiga en la Primaria (My Best Friend in Primary School).
Each week, everyone would write for about 15 minutes, using the spiral notebooks and pens I provided, and then one by one, we’d read out loud.
I went though the usual litany one gives in the U.S. — i.e., “No one is obligated to share” and “What’s shared in this room stays in this room,” only to find that no such careful protocols were needed with these women. They were eager to read! They felt so safe, in fact, that no session went by without someone shedding tears.
I have always heard that Mexicans respect elders more than we do in the States, but I doubt anyone had ever bothered to really listen to these elderly women. Their tears, I’m sure, came in part from the tough childhood experiences they described, but I suspect those tears also came from an unfamiliar sense of validation. For perhaps one of the first times in their lives, they were heard, listened to and honored.
Job-interviewing skills for college seniors
I’ve also given interactive presentations on interviewing skills to seniors at the University of Guanajuato’s Language Center. Because most Mexican college students don’t grow up having summer jobs or working part-time during the academic year, few have experience with job interviews. We discussed and role-played such areas as self-introductions and verbal and nonverbal communication. Whatever point we discussed, I’d ask if they thought my suggestion fit with Mexican culture. I wasn’t too concerned, because most of them were applying for jobs in multicultural workplaces in the Bajio, but I wanted to show respect.
One year, the writer and her husband offered their services teaching meditation to prisoners in a Mexican prison. (Octavio Hoyos/Shutterstock)
Meditation at the prison
One year Barry and I offered meditation once a week at the state cereso (prison), a powerful experience for us and one we were somewhat familiar with, having led meditation at the county jail and nearby maximum-security prison in California, where we live when not in Mexico.
Eerily similar to prisons we’ve been to in the U.S., just to reach the room where we meditated was a major ordeal, since we had to pass through a series of carefully guarded security checkpoints.
First we’d spend an hour with the men, followed by the same with the women: about 30 minutes sitting in silence, and then another half hour listening and discussing whatever came up. After one man asked about how to deal with nightmares, for example, I suggested focusing on one’s breathing, or an environmental feature like the furthest sound.
Barry, whose Spanish is not as strong as mine, joked that it was a great way for him to volunteer, because all he had to say was, silencio, por favor.
By the time we returned home each week, we were physically and psychically exhausted, not only because of the bleak, desolate physical environment, but because it was a 45-minute taxi ride each way. Nonetheless, we want to do it again, if we can. We believe it’s really a gift to the men and women in prison.
I’ve come to anticipate volunteering with excitement every year. Not only am I helping (¡ojalá!),but whatever I do is an adventure and a time when I get to meet people, make new discoveries, and surprise myself. What could more fun?
Louisa Rogers and her husband Barry Evans divide their lives between Guanajuato and Eureka, on California’s North Coast. Louisa writes articles and essays about expat life, Mexico, travel, physical and psychological health, retirement and spirituality. Her recent articles are on her website, louisarogers.contently.com
The astronomer and physicist Julieta Fierro Gossman was notified of the nomination by email this week. Fierro has dedicated her working life to the stars, a 53-year quest that has been duly recognized in Mexico and abroad. (Cuartoscuro)
Mexican scientist and astronomer Julieta Fierro Gossman has been named an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences – a distinction she now shares with the likes of Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein.
Fierro received the news while checking her email over a cup of coffee. “I thought it was fake news… but then I realized it was true!” she said in a video posted by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where she has worked as a researcher for the past 53 years. After confirming the news was true, Fierro said she felt very grateful for the opportunity. However, she still doesn’t know how she became a candidate.
Julieta Fierro’s tenure at UNAM began when she was an undergraduate student studying physics. Soon after, she found her home at the Insitute of Astronomy, where she has researched the chemical composition of interstellar matter. (UNAM)
Fierro started her academic career as a teacher’s assistant in mathematics and the physics laboratory while studying for her bachelor’s degree. She has worked as a researcher at the Institute of Astronomy of the UNAM ever since.
Fierro currently holds the title of principal investigator at the institute, and is a professor in the Faculty of Sciences. She is also Chair XXV of the Mexican Academy of Language and is a member of the National System of Researchers (SNI) at the highest level.
“This is a recognition that honors the highest house of studies and the Coordination of Scientific Research,” Fierro said of UNAM. UNAM means a lot to Fierro as it has “greatly contributed to her education…and given her freedom.”
In an interview with the university, the scientist explained that she loves science because it is how we can understand nature: “Humans are overwhelmed with questions that become challenges [to answer]. Finding the answers brings happiness,” she said.
The Institute of Astronomy at UNAM, whose origins date back to 1867, when the National Astronomical Observatory was founded on the roof of the National Palace in Mexico City. (UNAM)
Fierro added that she is fascinated by astronomy because she considers celestial objects “dazzling, as if they were a beautiful song in another language that one does not understand.” “Astronomy,” she mentioned, “can be approached from so many disciplines, such as Mesoamerican culture, biology, chemistry and physics,” among others.
“Mathematics is nature’s most pleasing tool and language,” she said.
Julieta Fierro’s new accolade will be made official at a ceremony in late September, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. With this, she will join fourteen Mexicans who are also members of this academy, such as archaeologist Eduardo Matos Moctezuma, biologist José Sarukhán Kermez and the late physicist Marcos Moshinsky Borodiansky, born in Mexico to Ukrainian parents.
Fierro has received several national and international awards that include UNESCO’s Kalinga prize, the Klumpke-Roberts Award, the Primo Rovis medals, recognition from the Congress of Mexico City, and the Benito Juárez and Omecíhuatl medals. Several laboratories, astronomical societies and three schools currently bear her name.
Julieta Fierro poses in front of a mural made in her honor in Iztapalapa, Mexico City. One of her greatest contributions is making the subjects of science and space accessible for others to enjoy. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
“This joy is for everyone: it is for Mexico, for UNAM and for all women, since we never imagined we would be able to achieve so many things,” she finally said.
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences was founded in 1780 with the goal of honoring leaders in all fields of human endeavor, to examine new ideas and address issues of the nation and the world.
Other big names on the list this year include U.S. songwriter and playwright Lin Manuel Miranda, British writer Zadie Smith, and Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh.
President López Obrador, center, met at the National Palace with Morena senators and the four main contenders for the party's presidential candidate in 2024, seen from left to right: Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, Interior Minister Adán Augusto López, Senate Majority Leader Ricardo Monreal and Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum. (Presidencia)
With the 2024 presidential election just 13 months away, President López Obrador is apparently anxious for the ruling Morena party to select its candidate.
The president last Friday asked the party he founded to choose its candidate within three months, according to a report by the newspaper El País.
Claudia Sheinbaum, seen here during an appearance in Mazatlán, is believed to be AMLO’s preferred candidate, although he has said he will defer to the results of a national survey. Sheinbaum served as the capital’s environment minister when López Obrador was the mayor of Mexico City. (Claudia Sheinbaum/Twitter)
He made the request at a meeting at the National Palace with Morena senators and the party’s four potential candidates, reported El País, which cited two unnamed sources present at the gathering.
Morena’s four corcholatas (metal bottle caps) — as the potential candidates are colloquially known because López Obrador has “lifted the lid” on their intention to seek the presidency — are Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard, Interior Minister Adán Augusto López Hernández and Senator Ricardo Monreal, Morena’s leader in the upper house.
They have indicated that they will participate in a survey process to be run by Morena to select the party’s 2024 flag bearer, and are currently attempting to sell themselves to the electorate, even as they remain in their high-ranking government positions.
Morena’s national leader, Mario Delgado, had indicated that the results of the selection process wouldn’t be announced until December. But López Obrador’s request — directive might be a more accurate word — would appear to set the stage for that process to take place earlier than planned.
Marcelo Ebrard, former mayor of Mexico City and current Foreign Minister, seen here at a recent author appearance in Xalapa, Veracruz, is considered a top contender for the Morena nomination. (Marcelo Ebrard/Twitter)
José Gerardo Fernández Noroña, a deputy with the Labor Party, a Morena ally party, has also indicated he will seek the ruling party’s nomination, but he is not considered a serious contender.
The aspirant ultimately chosen by Morena will face off against a common candidate to be put forward by the three-party alliance known as Va por México.
There is little clarity about who will represent the right-left coalition of convenience, consisting of the National Action Party (PAN), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD).
Interior Minister Adán Augusto López, seen here on Tuesday just before a meeting with AMLO and U.S. security officials, is generally seen as a dark horse candidate for the Morena nomination. (Galo Cañas Rodríguez/Cuartoscuro)
The Citizens Movement party (MC) has also indicated it will field a candidate at the June 2, 2024 election, at which both houses of Congress will also be renewed. Nuevo León Governor Samuel García is one potential MC candidate.
According to El País, López Obrador — even as he advocated expedition in the naming of a candidate — called on the four corcholatas to be patient as they await the determination of the ruling party. The newspaper’s sources said that the president held himself up as an example, noting that he wasn’t elected to the country’s top job until he ran as a candidate for a third successive time in 2018.
Nuevo León Governor Samuel García, who recently made headlines attracting the electric car company Tesla to invest in his state, is seen as a potential candidate for the Citizens Movement party, although the party has made no such announcements. (Samuel García/Twitter)
Sheinbaum, who served as environment minister in López Obrador’s Mexico City government when he was mayor between 2000 and 2005, is widely considered the president’s preferred candidate. However, AMLO — ever the self-proclaimed democrat — has publicly asserted that his favored candidate is that put forward by “the people” as a result of Morena’s selection process.
Cinco de Mayo celebration in Washington, D.C. This holiday is actually celebrated more in the U.S. than in Mexico, in part because the Battle of Puebla's victory inspired Mexicans in border states like California and Texas with a sense of nationalism and identity. (dbking/Wikimedia Commons)
A recent poll conducted in the United States by Mexican avocado exporters showed that only 22% of Americans know the true history of Cinco de Mayo. For Mexican Americans, it is a day to celebrate their Mexican heritage. For those who aren’t Mexican — and who often mistakenly think it is Mexico’s Independence Day — it’s a day to imbibe tequila and indulge in guacamole and chips.
But May 5, 1862, had a profound impact on the history of both Mexico and the United States. Cinco de Mayo is a commemoration of the Mexican victory over the French in the 1862 Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War.
In the 1862 Battle of Puebla, Mexican troops were outnumbered and outgunned, yet defeated an elite army. The figure holding the flag is Mexican president at the time, Benito Juárez.
By 1861, Mexican President Benito Juárez’s government was suffering financially. The Mexican-American War (1846–48) and the Reform War (1858–61) — between the Liberalswho wanted separation of church and state and the Conservativeswho wanted a close bond between the government and the Catholic Church — had nearly bankrupted the country.
To relieve some of the financial strain on the Mexican treasury, Juárez issued a moratorium on the payment of all foreign debts — primarily owed to Great Britain, Spain and France. In response, the three countries met in London and decided to send naval ships to Mexico to force repayment.
Their troops landed in Veracruz in December of 1861. Britain and Spain renegotiated their payment plans and peacefully withdrew, but Emperor Napoleon III of France had other plans. His troops attacked Veracruz and then marched toward Mexico City.
Napoleon III planned to establish an empire in Mexico — what would come to be known as the Second Mexican Empire — that would favor French interests in the region. The First Mexican Empire established in 1821 was ruled by Emperor Augustín de Iturbide. He abdicated his throne in February of 1823 and fled to Europe.
Napoleon III reportedly invaded Mexico because he wanted to check growing U.S. influence in Latin America and wanted better French access to Mexico’s products and markets. He also appears to have had dreams of empire that would start with a French-friendly monarchy in Mexico.
Napoleon III wanted access to Mexican and Latin American markets and to increase French influence in the region as a counterbalance to the United States.
As the French army of 6,000–8,000 soldiers reached the Mexican forts of Loreto and Guadalupe in the city of Puebla — on May 5, 1862 — they encountered heavy resistance from a poorly equipped ragtag Mexican army of 4,000. This small group of Mestizo and Zapotec soldiers led by General Ignacio Zaragoza in one day of fighting decisively defeated the French troops — killing 1,000 French soldiers in the process.
The French army, considered the best in the world, had not lost a battle in 50 years.
They retreated to wait for reinforcements from France.
Soon afterward, “Cinco de Mayo” became a day to commemorate the battle at Puebla known as “Battle of Puebla Day” or “Battle of Cinco de Mayo.” The Mexican victory at Puebla did not end the war but it did instill a great sense of pride and national unity in the Mexican people. The battle of Puebla quickly became a symbol of Mexican resistance to foreign domination.
A year later, however, reinforcements and 30,000 soldiers arrived from France. The French troops captured the capital of Mexico City in 1863, ultimately installing a monarchy in the country with the Habsburg nobleman Maximilian I of Austria as emperor.
Mexico’s ill-fated Emperor Maximilian’s reign lasted less than five years. For a monarch who was a member of the Habsburg dynasty, he had surprisingly liberal ideas.
The Second Mexican Empirewas short-lived, as heavy guerrilla resistance led by Juárez — with the backing of the United States — finally forced the withdrawal of the French in 1867, and Maximillian I and several of his top generals were executed.
The Mexican victory in the Battle of Puebla and the defeat of the French in 1867 had national and international implications. Following their defeat, no European power attempted to invade the Americas.
Although most Americans are not aware of it, the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, played a critical role in the history and destiny of the United States. While Mexico was fighting the French intervention, the United States was embroiled in a civil war between the north and south.
In his book, “Political Evolution of the Mexican People,”historian Justo Sierra suggests that had the French not been delayed for a year following their defeat in Puebla, they would have continued north to the Mexico-Texas border and provided aid to the Confederacy in the American Civil War.
The U.S. Library of Congress recently acquired a treasure trove of 36 Mexican letters written by historical figures — including one written by Benito Juárez — during the Franco-Mexican War “gives a vivid description of the Second French Intervention… and the global powers jousting for influence in the Americas against the backdrop of the U.S. Civil War,” said Neely Tucker, a writer in the U.S. Library of Congress’ Office of Communication.
The letters — obtained from a rare books dealer — support the theory that the unexpected defeat of the French troops in the Battle of Puebla helped sound a death knell for the Confederates in the U.S. Civil War. No nation had supported the Confederacy, but France was debating doing so.
The forts of Loreto and Guadalupe have been turned into museums. (LSalgador82/Wikimedia Commons)
According to historian and former U.S. diplomat Clark Crook-Castan, the French defeat had a profound impact on the Civil War.
“The French hoped to circumvent the Union naval blockade by shipping long-range artillery overland to Texas and on to the Confederate armies in the east,” Crook-Castan said in an interview with Tucker on the Library of Congress’ blog.
The defeat in Puebla delayed implementation of the French plan, and they didn’t gain control over the Mexico-Texas border until the summer of 1863. By that time, General Ulysses S. Grant had already cut off the Confederates’ access to weapons from the west by winning the Battle of Vicksburg in Mississippi.
Celebrating Cinco de Mayo in the United States began in 1863 when news of the Mexican victory in the Battle of Puebla reached Mexican miners in Columbia, California. The miners erupted into a spontaneous celebration of pride: the Mexican people were resisting the French intervention.
Today Cinco de Mayo is celebrated in more than 150 cities — just about everywhere with a large Mexican-American population — with the largest festival taking place in Los Angeles. Mexican tequila and beer companies and avocado exporters fueled the spread of Cinco de Mayo to non-Mexican Americans via millions of dollars spent on advertising each year.
Cinco de Mayo is not a federal holiday in Mexico, but it is a state holiday in Puebla and Veracruz. Festivities take place primarily in Puebla, which has parades, battle reenactments, and the official holiday dish of mole poblano (a sauce containing chili peppers, chocolate and spices).
Cinco de Mayo is not a federal holiday in Mexico, but it’s a state holiday in Puebla, where they commemorate the Battle of Puebla with parades and extravagant celebrations. (yosoypuebla.com)
If you plan on celebrating Cinco de Mayo – as you raise that margarita or shot of tequila – make a toast to the brave Mexican soldiers who defeated the French in Puebla. And remember, in the words of historian Crook-Castan: “The victory in Puebla may well have saved the Union during the U.S. Civil War.”
Sheryl Losser is a former public relations executive and professional researcher. She spent 45 years in national politics in the United States. She moved to Mazatlán in 2021 and works part-time doing freelance research and writing.
The International Festival of Mexican Opera hopes to inspire a renaissance for the art form in the country, through offering prizes to aspiring singers and composers. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
The first edition of the International Festival of Mexican Opera (FIOM) – a celebration of Mexican lyricism – opened on Monday and will run online until Sept. 9.
Organized by tenor Raúl Alcocer Rodríguez, bass-baritone Lucho Cano and Doctor of Performing Arts Enid Negrete Luna, the FIOM will put on a range of different artistic and academic activities, as well as an opera contest.
Many Mexican singers are forced to move abroad in search of success. Denís Velez (center) found success at the Met Opera in New York. (Twitter)
The festival will culminate with an award ceremony on Sept. 9.
Registration for the contest will run until June 30 and is open to professional and student opera singers and composers from Mexico or abroad. The focus is on Mexican opera.
The winner of the composer category will be able to perform their work alongside a Mexican conductor and a professional orchestra, while the winning singer will receive a prize from festival patrons.
Singers Ramón Vargas, María Katzarava, Javier Camarena, Rocío Tamez and Lourdes Ambriz, and composers Diana Syrse, Leticia Armijo and Enrico Chapela will be among the judges of the event.
Mexico has produced a significant number of operatic works, though many are now lost. Pictured is the 19th-century Mexican soprano Angela Peralta, photographed by the legendary Mexican photojournalist Agustín Víctor Casasola in Mexico City around 1880. (INAH)
To ensure greater impartiality during the selection process, participants will submit their work anonymously, Alcocer said.
Lucho Cano told the newspaper Milenio that all money gathered from the registration fee will go to support El Tecolote Cultural Center and the Art Against Violence Foundation.
“Both [programs] work together to rescue children from the community of Arcelia, Guerrero, one of the places with the highest crime and poverty rates.”
According to studies cited by newspaper La Jornada, there are some 500 Mexican works of opera, from the 18th century to date, though as many as 30% are now lost.
“In addition to this, a large number of pieces haven’t been premiered and others were premiered with great success abroad but are unknown in Mexico,” Negrete added.
Currently, more than 50 composers are active in Mexico, but with little support for creativity and inadequate infrastructure to support and produce an opera, the outlook for the musical genre in Mexico “is sad,” Negrete lamented.
“I mean, if you are a Mexican composer and you premiere an opera, it better be your masterpiece because otherwise the criticism will destroy you.”
The scenario is no different for opera singers. “Most of our singers can only aspire to have a career abroad,” Negrete said, adding that there is a talent drain in Mexico, “a problem that will eventually take its toll on us.”
Although Mexican opera faces many challenges, the FIOM seeks to overcome them by supporting composers and opera singers to disseminate lyrical work “made in Mexico.”
