Health Minister Jorge Alcocer told reporters that President López Obrador is experiencing inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, fever and fatigue. (Photos by Galo Cañas Rodríiguez/Cuartoscuro)
President López Obrador has mild COVID-19 symptoms, but his overall health is good, Health Minister Jorge Alcocer said Tuesday.
The 69-year-old president announced Sunday that he had tested positive for COVID but asserted that his illness wasn’t serious. It is the third time that he has contracted the disease.
The president, who is on his third bout with COVID, travels frequently to personally visit infrastructure projects and commune with supporters. He was on such a trip over the weekend when he developed cold-like symptoms. (Presidencia)
Alcocer told reporters at the government’s morning press conference that López Obrador’s symptoms include inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, fever and fatigue. He is taking paracetamol, staying hydrated and resting, the health minister said.
Alcocer noted that the president suffered a heart attack in 2013 but stressed that his heart health is not a current concern. In a social media post announcing that he had tested positive for COVID, López Obrador said himself that his heart was “100%” fine.
Alcocer said that the president’s blood pressure is lower than normal because he’s not carrying out his normal “dynamic” activities that can cause his blood pressure to rise. López Obrador said last September that he takes a “cocktail” of medications for several medical conditions, including high blood pressure and thyroid issues.
Alcocer said that the president, who is currently isolating at his apartment within the National Palace, would be “discharged” in a few days. “Basically what he needs is rest,” the health minister said.
Interior Minister Adan Augusto López, who is believed to be interested in becoming Morena’s presidential candidate in 2024, is currently running AMLO’s daily press conferences.
López Obrador, who has had at least three shots of COVID-19 vaccine, began experiencing cold-like symptoms while on the Yucatán Peninsula to inspect progress on the construction of the Maya Train railroad last weekend. He returned to Mexico City from Mérida slightly earlier than scheduled on Sunday.
Interior Minister Adán Augusto López Hernández, who is presiding over the government’s morning press conferences in the president’s absence, rejected a report by the newspaper Diario de Yucatán that said that López Obrador fainted in Mérida due to an apparent heart attack and was transferred to a military hospital in Mexico City after taking an emergency flight to the capital on a Mexican Air Force jet.
“There was no emergency transfer, there was no fainting episode,” he said Monday.
Teen actor Eduardo Minett stars in the Netflix film "¿Encontró lo que buscaba?" In an interview with MND, he remarks on the movie business in Mexico, starting college at 16, and his parallel career as a rock musician (Photo courtesy of the author).
At 15, Eduardo Minett made his Hollywood debut alongside Clint Eastwood in the 2021 feature film “Cry Macho.” Now, he’s back home in Mexico, where he is shooting to stardom.
We got a chance to sit down with Eduardo to hear about his new Netflix movie, how Mexican movie production compares to Hollywood and a new music project he is heading up.
Eduardo Minett with Clint Eastwood on the set of “Cry Macho” (@eduardominett/instagram).
Your big screen debut in 2021 was at age 15, co-starring with Clint Eastwood in the film “Cry Macho.” What can you tell us about that experience?
Before “Cry Macho”I never had the opportunity to do movies. I was always trying to do casting [calls], but, yeah, “Cry Macho” was a wonderful experience. It represents a before-and-after because I grew so much and now have new opportunities.
How does making movies in Hollywood compare to making movies in Mexico?
I thought I was going to see a lot of differences, but, no, the main difference I saw comes down to food. In American productions, the food is a little better. My [only] experience is with “Cry Macho” which was a big Hollywood production. In Mexico, the food is not bad – I’m not saying that – but in “Cry Macho” they always gave me chocolate, candy, and treats, hahaha.
There is a recent Mexico News Daily article about an agreement between the Mexican government and six Hollywood film studios. What do you think this means?
I think it means more opportunities in general for actors and actresses, producers and the entire industry. In Mexico and Latin America, we have a great [film] industry. Some people think that the Latino film industry is not good but that is simply not true. I think the big U.S. studios are paying more attention to Mexico, maybe even as an entry into Latin America.
From left to right, Eduardo Minett, Álvaro Guerrero, and Andrea Chaparro in the new Netflix film “¿Encontró lo que buscaba?” (Photo courtesy of the author)
Is it fair to say that the Mexican film industry has grown substantially in recent years?
Yes, I think so. When I first started acting over 10 years ago, the industry in Mexico was relatively small. Now we have more opportunities and great people like Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro González Iñárritu. In the last three or four years the Mexican industry has been growing very fast.
Not only is it acting but also directing, producing, even the music. In the last “Black Panther” movie, we had [the Mexican actor] Tenoch Huerta and [the Mexican rapper] Santa Fe Klan, who did music for the movie.
You have a new movie recently released on Netflix: “¿Encontró lo que buscaba?” (Have a Nice Day!)What does this latest movie mean to you?
I worked with Yibrán Asuad, a director I have been waiting years to work with. We did the movie in a small town in San Luis Potosí. The experience of being on set with Àlvaro Guerrero and Andrea Chaparro, the other main actors in the movie, was great. I think what I most enjoy about acting is being with other actors, not only [while filming] the project, but also talking about our lives and developing relationships.
The movie has multiple elderly characters who play refreshing roles that challenge typical depictions.
Yeah, one of the things I love about this movie is that there is a mix of a lot of different generations, as you mention, with different themes that emerge.
“¿Encontró lo que buscaba?” follows the life of an ex-radio personality who is forced to bag groceries among young kids who help him pursue a romantic mission. (Photo courtesy of the author)
We have had to postpone this interview a couple of times due to auditions that have come up. Can you tell us about new projects on the horizon?
I have been doing a lot of [acting] auditions recently, as well as music. I also received an offer to direct theater which would be a first for me. It makes me nervous when I think about it because it is something of a dream for me. I have a lot of experience in theater but this would be new.
I know that you also have a music project in the works. What can you tell us about that?
I am working with my rock band Maddox. We have a team that helps us and [we] have already recorded six songs … we are looking to finish our first album with around 10. We write the songs; the creative part is all us.
You mentioned you are now a freshman in college studying music. How are you able to balance everything?
I don’t know! I started college in January as a 16 year-old so the first few days I was scared but I have adapted and fit in now. I love acting but have been studying acting since before I was 6 years old. It is time to study my other passion: music.
Eduardo (R) performing with his band Madoxx (@madoxx.band/instagram).
I understand you play guitar, sing, you write music, and are also teaching yourself how to play the drums.
Yeah, I am starting to pick up different instruments. I don’t have experience and have never really played the bass [guitar] but yesterday in class I said “Hey, I’ll try it.” We were playing “Even Flow” by Pearl Jam. Actually, the teacher was surprised and said I played very well. It is cool to do things that represent a challenge for you.
So, you are a big Beatles fan and give them credit for helping found the hard rock genre. Can you tell us more about that?
The Beatles played such a role in the founding of the music we know and listen to nowadays. One of those genres that we listen to is hard rock.
When I listen to the White Album and the song “Helter Skelter,” I think about that moment … it was very hard. The bands at that time were playing softer rock, and the Beatles made this song. That is part of how the Beatles helped to create hard rock.
Lastly, what are some of your musical influences or music that you gravitate towards?
I have a lot: B.B. King, John Mayer or Stevie Ray Vaughn. I love the blues and I love playing the blues. In general, I would say my influences include Michael Jackson, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Slash from Guns ‘n Roses, Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee.
In Mexico we have Jay de la Cueva. Wow. He is a guitarist, a composer, a drummer… he plays everything. He is one of my idols in Mexico. We also have Ximena Sariñana and Adan Jodorowsky…there are just so many great artists here to mention.
Patrick Leet is a professor and freelance writer based in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Mexico's berry industry earned more from sales abroad in January and February than beer, tequila and avocados.(silviacozzi/Depositphotos)
Berries were Mexico’s top-grossing agricultural export in the first two months of the year, bringing in US $777 million in revenue, according to the Bank of Mexico.
Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries earned more from sales abroad in January and February than better-known Mexican agro-industrial products such as beer, tequila and avocados.
Berries grown in Mexico do well abroad, but here, the price tag on a basket of blueberries is higher than most Mexicans are willing to pay. (miflippo/Depositphotos)
Mexico exports berries to almost 40 countries, but its biggest market is the United States.
The Agriculture Ministry said last October that berries are grown commercially in 22 of Mexico’s 32 states and that the sector employs over 500,000 people. It also said that export volumes of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries all increased in the first half of 2022 compared to the same period of the prior year.
According to María Blanca Martínez Barajas, a Puebla-based academic who has researched Mexico’s berry industry, national berry production has almost quadrupled in the past 10 years.
Martínez told Forbes México that the berry sector is export-oriented due to the high prices paid for the fruit in foreign countries. In Mexico, berries are considered a luxury product and are unaffordable for a large sector of the population, Martínez said.
Berries beat out beer in export sales during the first two months of 2023. (igorgolovniov/Depositphotos).
Mexican cerveza, including major brands such as Corona, Pacífico, Tecate and Dos Equis, generated US $757 million in revenue from foreign sales in the first two months of 2023 to rank behind berries as Mexico’s second largest agricultural export.
Tequila ranked third, with US $616 million in sales abroad followed by tomatoes with $574 million; avocados with $545 million; and beef with $454 million.
The total value of Mexican agrifood exports in January and February was just over US $8.25 billion, according to the Bank of Mexico, a 7.9% increase compared to the same period in 2022.
This administration has said it seeks to lower the cost of airfare and improve connectivity by creating an army-run commercial airline. (Depositphotos)
The Chamber of Deputies approved a reform of the Civil Aviation and Airport laws on Friday, paving the way for a new state-owned airline operated by the Defense Ministry.
The new legislation states that the Infrastructure, Communications and Transport Ministry (SICT) can authorize public agencies – such as the Olmeca-Maya-Mexica company operated by the military – to operate and manage airlines.
A combination of economic crises and regulatory obstacles has caused the closure of 21 Mexican airlines in the last two decades. There are only three national commercial airlines currently operating in the country: AeroMéxico, Viva Aerobus, and Volaris. (mathes/Depositphotos)
The vote was tightly contested, but ultimately passed with 256 in favor and 219 against. Voting largely reflected congressional support of the government, with Morena and parties supportive of AMLO’s policies voting in favor.
President López Obrador had confirmed plans to create a state-owned commercial airline operated by the armed forces in October 2022, after media outlets reported on information contained in leaked Defense Ministry documents.
Mexicana was founded in 1921, which made it one of the world’s oldest commercial airlines when it ceased operations in 2010.
The airline Mexicana, inaugurated in 1921, ceased operations in 2010 and declared bankruptcy in 2014. In January, the federal government purchased the rights to the brand. (Wikimedia)
In February, the Chamber of Deputies passed legislation that gives the military control over Mexican airspace, with the stated aim to increase security and to deter drug traffickers. The law permits the creation of a new monitoring center to detect activity often associated with traffickers, including turning off transponder codes, unexplained route changes and failure to communicate with air traffic control services.
Critics of the reform said that the bill is another move towards militarization. This administration has relied on the military and advocated increasing the scope of its responsibilities, including the control of the National Guard (GN) – a move deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court last week.
The government has been exploring ways to further promote competition in the aviation industry, including a controversial cabotage law that would have allowed foreign airlines to operate domestic routes within Mexico. However, in a second package of legislation addressing the downgrading of the country’s U.S. FAA safety rating category – also passed in the Chamber of Deputies on Friday – the ban on cabotage was upheld.
The Federal Competition Commission has said that the launch of a state-owned airline would be anti-competitive by allowing the government to operate both airlines and airports. President López Obrador has said that the state-owned airline will allow tickets to be offered at a lower price point, increasing access for low-income Mexicans.
The reform bill will now move to the Senate for debate.
The headline inflation rate was at its lowest since the first half of October 2021, according to the national statistics agency INEGI. (@dejoselapiz/Twitter)
Annual headline inflation fell to an 18-month low of 6.24% in the first half of April, official data shows.
The headline rate, reported by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) on Monday, is 0.61 percentage points lower than that recorded in March, and the last time inflation was lower was in the first half of October 2021, when the headline rate was 6.12%.
Prices of fruit and vegetables rose 2.83% in the first half of March, although overall prices were down 0.16%. (Miranda Garside/Unsplash)
INEGI reported that the annual core inflation rate, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was 7.75% in the first half of April, down from 8.09% across March.
The headline and core rates were both slightly below the consensus forecasts of analysts polled by the news agency Reuters.
Despite the annual decline recorded in the first half of April, general inflation remains well above the central bank’s target of 3%. The Bank of México (Banxico) raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to a record high of 11.25% at the end of March, continuing an almost two-year-long cycle of monetary policy tightening, aimed at bringing inflation down.
The chief Latin America economist at the economic research consultancy Pantheon Macroeconomics said that declining inflation will likely lead Banxico to keep its official rate at 11.25% after its governing board meets to discuss monetary policy on May 18.
“Inflation is falling rapidly,” Andrés Abadia said, adding that there are indicators that point to a continuation of the downward trend over the next three to six months.
Jason Tuvey, an emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients that his research firm believes another rate increase is “more likely than not” next month. However, he observed that the latest data means that a 25-basis-point hike following Banxico’s May meeting “no longer looks nailed on.”
Andrés Abadia, chief Latin American economist for Pantheon Macroeconomics, says indicators point to a continued downward trend in inflation rates in Mexico over the next three to six months. (Pantheon Macroeconomics)
INEGI data shows that prices for processed food, beverages and tobacco were 12.38% higher in the first half of April than a year earlier, while meat was 7.81% more expensive.
Prices for fruits and vegetables were up 2.83%, while the cost of services rose 5.42%. Energy prices, including those for fuel and electricity, were 1.21% lower than a year earlier.
Overall prices declined 0.16% in the first half of April compared to the second half of March. It was the first time since last November that the National Consumer Prices Index fell from one quincena (the traditional 15-day payroll period) to the next.
The caravan is protesting asylum laws that they believe are reponsible for the deaths of 40 migrants in a Ciudad Juárez detention center. (Damián Sánchez/Cuartoscuro)
A caravan of 3,000 migrants has left Tapachula, heading for Mexico City, hoping to speed up their asylum process and protest the deaths of 40 migrants in a detention center fire on March 27.
The migrants — mostly from Venezuela and Central America, but some from as far afield as Asia — started their march on Sunday. Many have been held up for months in the Chiapas town on the Mexico-Guatemala border.
Many protesters are also hoping that the march will help to expedite their asylum requests. (Damián Sánchez/Cuartoscuro)
Many protesters are also hoping that the march will help to expedite their own asylum requests. Organizers said the march aims to demand changes in the way migrants are treated, after the death of 40 migrants in a fire in late March while in the custody of the National Migration Institute (INM).Video from the fire at the center showed that INM officials failed to unlock doors to let migrants escape as the fire spread.
Six INM officials, one security guard and one Venezuelan migrant accused of starting the fire are in custody. INM director Francisco Garduño is among those expected to face charges. His hearing is scheduled for April 25.
“It could well have been any of us,” Salvadoran migrant Miriam Argueta told the Associated Press (AP) at the start of the march, referring to those killed in the fire. “In fact, a lot of our countrymen died. The only thing we are asking for is justice and to be treated like anyone else.”
Many migrants on the march carried protest banners or wooden crosses, alluding to the “Viacrucis” (the biblical stations of the cross) theme of previous caravans that sought to raise awareness of migrants’ plights.
A few hours into their journey, some migrants took the opportunity of a river to bathe after walking in the hot sun. (Damian Sánchez Jesús)
“In this Viacrucis, we are asking the government that justice be done to the killers, for them to stop hiding high-ranking officials,” organizer Irineo Mujica, director of the NGO Pueblos Sin Fronteras (People Without Borders) told the AP.
“We are also asking that these jails [migrant detention centers] be ended, and that the National Immigration Institute be dissolved.”
However, many of the migrants are expected to continue their march to the U.S. border to claim asylum, as similar caravans have done in the past.
“We joined the caravan to be safer and not to be detained,” a Venezuelan migrant called Yoani told Reuters, adding that he hoped to speed up his family’s U.S. asylum process in Mexico City.
The caravan successfully crossed the first checkpoint north of Tapachula, where small groups of migrants are usually stopped by immigration agents. On Sunday, the post was only manned by humanitarian organizations and state police, who made no attempt to block the migrants.
The caravan is expected to take between 10 and 14 days to walk the 1,200 km (750 miles) to Mexico City, departing before dawn each day to avoid the strongest heat.
Tapachula, on the border with Guatemala, is known as ground zero of the migrant crisis in southern Mexico. Local activists estimate that there are around 40,000 migrants stuck in the city. (Damian Sánchez Jesús/Cuartoscuro)
Migrant caravans have been a phenomenon in Tapachula for several years, as impoverished migrants have grouped together for security on the long walk north. Several grew to huge size during 2018 and 2019, although numbers dropped during the pandemic.
Tapachula itself is known as the epicenter of southern Mexico’s migration crisis. Local activists estimate that there are around 40,000 migrants stuck in the city, mostly waiting to process humanitarian visas that would allow them to cross the country legally.
Interior Minister Adán Augusto López, in foreground, is leading President López Obrador’s daily press conferences until AMLO returns. (Moisés Pablo Nava/Cuartoscuro)
López Obrador, who has received at least three doses of COVID-19 vaccine, announced his latest infection on social media, saying that he was forced to suspend his tour of the Yucatán Peninsula, where he was inspecting progress on the construction of the Maya Train.
The 69-year-old president, who suffered a heart attack in 2013 and has a range of medical conditions, including high blood pressure and thyroid issues, said that his heart was “100%” fine and that he returned to Mexico City, where he would celebrate his son’s 16th birthday “from afar.”
“I’ll isolate for a few days. Interior Minister Adán Augusto López Hernández will lead the morning press conferences. See you soon,” he added.
López Hernández on Monday rejected a report by the newspaper Diario de Yucatán that said that the president fainted in Mérida due to an apparent heart attack and was transferred to a military hospital in Mexico City after taking an emergency flight to the capital on a Mexican Air Force jet.
The president had to cut short his tour of the Yucatán Peninsula, but Interior Minister Adan Augusto Lopez denied that Lopez Obrador had fainted during an event there, as was reported by some media outlets on Sunday. (File photo/lopezobrador.org.mx)
“There was no fainting episode,” the interior minister told reporters at the morning press conference at the National Palace, the seat of executive power and López Obrador’s residence.
“The president is isolating and recovering here at the National Palace,” López Hernández said.
He said it was expected that López Obrador would return to his weekday press conferences in two or three days.
López Hernández, who is aiming to become the ruling Morena party’s candidate at the 2024 presidential election, said he would provide an update on the president’s health at Tuesday’s press conference.
The two leading contenders to secure the Morena nomination, Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard and Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, both wished López Obrador a speedy recovery in posts to their social media accounts, as did other supporters of the president and some of his critics, including ex-president Felipe Calderón.
In his daily morning press conferences this week, President López Obrador covered the DEA in Mexico, government transparency, building National Guard barracks and much more. (Gob MX)
The DEA’s self-professed infiltration of the Sinaloa Cartel, the alleged inefficacy of Mexico’s transparency agency, the Supreme Court’s ruling on the National Guard and the sale of the presidential plane to Tajikistan were just some of the issues discussed at President López Obrador’s morning press conferences this week.
As is his norm, AMLO spent over 10 hours speaking and listening at his five weekday mañaneras.
AMLO hosted Julian Assange’s father and brother, John and Gabriel Shipton on Thursday. (López Obrador/Twitter)
“Today, April 17, in middle and high schools, we’re beginning the campaign against the use of drugs, against addictions,” Public Education Minister Leticia Ramírez announced early in the press conference.
“It’s a national preventative campaign, … a strategy [implemented in] classrooms,” she said, adding that the government was aiming to reach 11 million students across 62,000 schools.
Teachers will speak with students about the dangers of drugs for 10-15 minutes at least three times a week, Ramírez said, noting that the campaign is called “Si te drogas, te dañas,” or “If you take drugs you harm yourself.”
Javier May Rodríguez, head of the National Tourism Promotion Fund, subsequently made his regular mañanera appearance to provide an update on the construction of the Maya Train railroad.
Four viaducts being built along the 226-kilometer Section 1 of the railroad between Palenque, Chiapas, and Escárcega, Campeche are 83% complete and 12 bridges are 65% complete, he said.
May also said that work is being carried out to “improve” the Moral Reforma, El Tigre and Palenque archaeological sites, located in Tabasco, Campeche and Chiapas, respectively. He noted that another attraction in the area that will be accessible to Maya Train passengers is the Cañon del Usumacinta, a protected natural area in the Tabasco municipality of Tenosique.
Over an hour after his presser began, AMLO returned to center stage to respond to reporters’ questions, but not before praising deceased Canadian-American economist John Kenneth Galbraith for his views about how to combat the trafficking and use of drugs.
“He speaks about attending to the causes,” López Obrador said in a purported reference to Galbraith’s 1996 book The Good Society.
“That if you attend to the neediest, to the poor, that’s a more humane solution to the problem of violence,” the president continued, outlining a belief he espouses himself.
In response to his first question of the day, AMLO confirmed that the government would maintain its summer electricity subsidy in locations where high temperatures are the norm, including two northern states known for oppressive climatic conditions.
“We’re going to maintain the subsidy for Sonora and Baja California this summer [and] for the states where this subsidy applies due to high temperatures,” he said. “That can already be taken as a given.”
AMLO later accused the United States government of “arrogant” and “abusive interference” in Mexico when asked to offer an opinion on the Drug Enforcement Administration’s announcement that it had infiltrated the Sinaloa Cartel.
He said that DEA agents must have entered the country without authorization and pledged to raise the issue with the United States government.
“There can’t be foreign agents in our country, no. … How can they be spying! … Acts of espionage cannot be used,” López Obrador said.
A reporter asked whether he agreed with the assessment that the Sinaloa Cartel is the world’s largest distributor of illicit fentanyl.
A DEA chart depicting members of the Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. (DEA)
“Yes, the Sinaloa Cartel and other cartels, and probably also cartels in the United States. And we’re doing what corresponds to us [to combat them],” López Obrador responded.
“But it’s not just the Sinaloa Cartel [and] the Jalisco [New Generation] Cartel. Are they the only ones that supply [fentanyl] to the United States? There is a lot of [fentanyl] use in the United States. Are there not cartels there?”
Tuesday
In his regular “Zero Impunity” report, Deputy Security Minister Luis Rodríguez Bucio offered brief details on some of the arrests made over the past two weeks.
Among those detained, he said, were members of the Cenobios fuel theft gang in Hidalgo, a former education official in the same state who is accused of embezzlement and a man who allegedly started a fire in Mexico City’s main wholesale market on April 6.
Rodríguez also reported that a former director of the Altiplano maximum security federal prison was arrested on charges of torture. María Guadalupe “N” was head of the México state prison – from which notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán escaped via a tunnel in 2015 – between 2011 and 2013, he said.
Deputy Security Minister Luis Rodríguez Bucio at the morning press conference on Tuesday. (Gob MX)
Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez later presented data that showed there were 2,603 homicides in March, a 14% increase compared to February. There was an average of 83 homicides per day across Mexico in the first three months of the year, Rodríguez said, highlighting that the figure was 7% lower than the 2022 average and 17% lower than the average in 2019, the current government’s first full year in office.
During his engagement with reporters, AMLO asserted that the National Institute of Transparency (INAI) “has not helped in any way to combat corruption” since it was created during the 2000-2006 presidency of Vicente Fox.
On the contrary, the institute has “legitimized thefts and hidden information,” he said, adding that it has cost the Mexican people 1 billion pesos a year since its creation.
“Hopefully the Congress does something so that the [transparency] function can be carried out by another institution … and the 1 billion pesos per year [can be] used to support the people who need it,” López Obrador said.
He also took aim at a prominent journalist who obtained audio in which Interior Minister Adán Augusto López is heard informing senators that López Obrador had told him that he was trying to push INAI toward a “period of impasse.”
Carlos Loret de Mola – an outspoken critic of the president – “hasn’t told us how he managed to get six apartments, super luxurious ones – among the most expensive in … [Mexico City],” AMLO said.
“How did he do it? And how did he manage to get a house, a mansion, in Valle de Bravo?”
The president later accused the United States Department of Defense of spying on his government.
“We’re going to safeguard the information of the Navy Ministry and Defense Ministry because we’re a target of espionage of the Pentagon,” he said. “And a lot of media outlets in Mexico are leaking information that the DEA gives them,” AMLO added.
Asked whether it wasn’t the Guacamaya hacking collective that stole information from the IT system of the Ministry of National Defense last year, the president responded, “Yes, that’s part of the same thing.”
He also accused U.S. government agencies of wanting to “interfere” in Mexico like they did during previous governments.
“They want to be in charge, violate our sovereignty, so they start leaking [information] supposedly to weaken us politically,” he said. “… It’s an interventionist plan, using the sold or rented press in our country as a tool,” López Obrador said.
Wednesday
“Good morning, cheer up. How’s life treating you?” AMLO asked reporters at the beginning of his third mañanera of the week.
In his press conference preamble, he congratulated Elena Reygadas of the Mexico City restaurant Rosetta on being named the world’s best female chef of 2023. “Born in Mexico City, Mexican pride,” López Obrador remarked.
Rogelio Ramírez de la O, Finance Minister, discussed the Iberdrola power plant purchase at the morning press conference. (Gob MX)
Finance Minister Rogelio Ramírez de la O replaced the president at the mañanera lectern and reported that the Finance Ministry will provide 45 billion pesos (about US $2.5 billion) to the National Infrastructure Fund to buy 13 power plants from Spanish company Iberdrola. The rest of the money for the government’s approximately US $6 billion purchase will come from loans that will be repaid over 10 years with the plants’ revenue, he said.
In her “Who’s Who in the Lies of the Week” segment, Ana García Vilchis asserted that a campaign against the health sector based on lies was launched after AMLO said last weekend that Mexico’s public health system would be better than that of Denmark.
“A legion of [opposition] politicians and journalists pounced on the president,” she said, explaining that they made claims such as “‘there’s no supply of medicines’ and ‘we’re worse off than before.'”
“… This is false, the supply of medicines and [medical] consumables is guaranteed for the health sector this year,” García said before presenting data that showed that over 98% of prescriptions had been filled in public hospitals so far in 2023.
“… What is the objective of the federal government led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador? … To guarantee medical care and free medicine for people who don’t have social security. The campaigns of lies are opposed by data and facts,” she said.
AMLO later launched an attack on Supreme Court justices in light of their ruling that the transfer of control over the National Guard from the civilian Security Ministry to the Defense Ministry was unconstitutional.
“Eight [of 11] justices of the Supreme Court … acted in a partisan way yesterday, not with legal criteria but political [bias],” he said.
They defended “the old practices of the authoritarian and corrupt regime, characterized by injustice, collusion and the subordination of authorities to organized crime and white collar crime, ” López Obrador charged.
“In other words … the justices … with the exception of three … acted in the style of the government of Felipe Calderón and his security minister, Genaro García Luna, who was convicted in the United States for drug trafficking and criminal association. That’s what they defended yesterday, that model,” he said.
Eight of the Supreme Court’s 11 justices voted to rule the transfer of the National Guard to the Defense Ministry as unconstitutional, saying that the security force was inherently civilian in nature. (SCJN)
López Obrador said he intended to send a constitutional bill to put the National Guard back under military control on September 1, 2024, because the makeup of Congress will change on that date following elections on June 2.
“I’ll send the bill that day because I think there will be the majority required to carry out the constitutional reform,” AMLO said, indicating that he believes the Morena party and its allies will have a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress.
Turning to another issue, the president said he didn’t expect the extradition of Ovidio Guzmán – one of El Chapo’s sons – to the United States to happen quickly despite the U.S. Department of Justice’s unsealing of charges against 28 high-ranking Sinaloa Cartel members last week.
Such processes “take time,” he said. “I don’t know if you remember that … he resorted to the argument or the excuse … that he who was detained wasn’t him, that he wasn’t … Ovidio,” López Obrador said, referring to a bizarre claim made at an extradition hearing in March.
“… It has to be proven that it’s Ovidio, so it takes time,” he said.
Before wrapping up his presser, AMLO complained that there was no information about what happened to the DEA’s former top official in Mexico, Nicholas Palmeri, who was withdrawn last year due to improper contact with lawyers for drug traffickers.
“I’d like to ask, what happened to the man? Did they open a [legal] process [against him]? López Obrador said before bemoaning that investigations in the United States related to the “Fast and Furious” gun-running scandal had been shelved.
Thursday
“We’re a little late because we participated in a forum about climate change,” AMLO said at the top of his presser.
AMLO participated in a Major Economies’ Forum meeting on energy and climate on Thursday. (Screenshot/Twitter)
“President Biden convened us, and other leaders – presidents, prime ministers – participated. … We just finished our presentation,” López Obrador said before opening up his mañanera to reporters’ questions.
In response to a question about the security situation in Guerrero, the president acknowledged that violence and crime is a particular problem in the state’s Tierra Caliente region.
“The National Guard and the Defense Ministry are working there. … The strategy of the National Guard has a lot to do with territorial occupation of regions of the country where there is no presence of authorities – only municipal police and state police in some cases,” he said.
“That’s why it’s important to continue building National Guard barracks. We’ve already finished 280 … but we’re going to get to 500,” López Obrador said.
He later expressed his opposition to self-defense forces known as autodefensas, which have formed in some parts of the country to tackle crime.
They haven’t achieved any positive results, AMLO said. “A lot of them were encouraged by [organized] crime itself. … The state has the obligation to guarantee security to all citizens and that obligation is being met.”
One reporter asked López Obrador about the presidential plane, which he has been trying to sell for years.
“There is a possibility it will be sold, I can’t say more,” he said of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner purchased in 2012 and delivered in 2016.
If it is sold, AMLO added, the money will used to build two hospitals: one in the Montaña region of Guerrero – “the poorest area of the country” – and another in Tuxtepec, Oaxaca.
“Whether the plane is sold or not we’re going to build these hospitals, but I’d like the money to go to those two hospitals,” he said.
Late in his press conference, López Obrador offered one of his familiar didactic discourses.
“There is an enormous debt with the people of Mexico because they’ve been excluded, marginalized, mistreated, impoverished and humiliated by a minority. Our people, our nation, has been looted since long ago and the biggest looting in all of history was that carried out in the neoliberal or neo-Porfirian period from 1983 to 2018 – 36 years. That’s when social inequality deepened like never before,” he said.
“[Alexander von] Humboldt, who arrived to Mexico at the beginning of the 19th century, … writes that there were few countries on earth, at that time, with as much inequality as Mexico. That’s why [priest and independence hero José María] Morelos said that indigence and opulence had to moderated, … that’s why the priest [Miguel] Hidalgo dared to abolish slavery and paid for it with his life. So [there has been] a lot of inequality in the country and it worsened, deepened, in the neoliberal period, especially in the six-year period [1988-94] of [former president Carlos] Salinas,” López Obrador said.
“… The formula that has had success in [my] resolution to take our beloved Mexico and its people forward has been to not allow corruption, looting,” the president said, returning to what he claims to be his administration’s raison d’être.
“We’re very happy to be here in the port of Veracruz. … A lot of progress has been made in the state of Veracruz, both in programs for the wellbeing of the people and in public works,” he said.
“All this is reflected in the fact that there is economic growth, employment and wellbeing in the state of Veracruz.
A commemorative military event was held on Friday in remembrance of the U.S. invasion of Veracruz in 1914. (Gob MX)
Governor Cuitláhuac García said that foreign investment has increased in Veracruz and cited the construction of Constellation Brands’ new brewery as one of the major projects in the state. Veracruz’s improved economic situation and “police action” have both contributed to an improved security situation in the Gulf coast state, he said.
Responding to his first question of the day, López Obrador said he was happy to have sold the “ostentatious” presidential plane to the government of Tajikistan, a US $92 million deal he announced in a social media post on Thursday night.
“[Former president Felipe] Calderón bought this plane but he didn’t use it. He left it to [Enrique] Peña Nieto. … It cost a lot of money because it’s very luxurious,” said AMLO, who refused to use the aircraft.
AMLO and members of his cabinet inside the plane used by former president Enrique Peña Nieto, which was sold to the government of Tajikistan this week. (López Obrador/Twitter)
“Just look at its interior,” he said as images were displayed on a screen behind him.
“… [The plane] is for 240 passengers but they adapted it for 80 so that the seats are wider. … It has an apartment inside – look,” López Obrador said. “… They dared to give it the name José María Morelos y Pavón … when Morelos fought for equality.”
The president later claimed that the Supreme Court justices “regretted” their decision to invalidate the military’s control over the National Guard because they gave the government more than eight months to return responsibility for the security force to the civilian Security Ministry (SSPC).
The government can’t comply with the ruling this year because it doesn’t take effect until Jan 1. 2024, López Obrador said after reiterating his intent to send a constitutional bill to Congress in September next year to return the National Guard to military control.
He also said that Chief Justice Norma Piña and other justices approached the government to negotiate the date by which control over the National Guard must be returned to the SSPC.
“No, I said to the interior minister and the security minister! No negotiation! This has to do with dignity, we don’t make deals in the dark,” said a visibly angry AMLO.
“… I said don’t even answer the telephone,” he added before revealing that Security Minister Rosa Rodríguez in fact had breakfast with Piña on Thursday.
“… It cannot be that a corrupt elite makes decisions on an issue as delicate as people’s safety,” López Obrador said, referring to the justices that voted to invalidate the military’s control of the National Guard.
“Top-down politics is over, the people are in charge now, and we’re here to rule by obeying the people, always. So, there are no negotiations like those … [of] before,” he said.
AMLO ended his presser on a lighter note, smiling as he declared it was time for unlechero con canilla (milk coffee and a typical Veracruz bread) as well as a few picadas, a local tortilla-based speciality similar to sopes or memelas.
“Are you going to let me have breakfast or not?” he inquired as reporters clamored for the mañanera to continue.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies ([email protected])
Mexico's artisinal textile industry is at risk of being undercut by Chinese competition(Miho Hagino)
A chance viewing of Mexican artwork in New York changed Japanese artist Miho Hagino’s life — and Oaxaca’s Isthmus of Tehuantepec gained a fan and advocate.
Born in Hokkaido, Hagino’s childhood contact with Japan’s ethnic Ainu people sparked a lifelong interest in minority cultures.
In the 1990s, she traveled to the United States and Canada, and in New York went to an exhibition on Latin American art.
“I had never seen so much of Frida Kahlo’s work in one place and time, interconnected…” she remembers.
Her first visit to Mexico followed in 1996, and by the end of the decade, she was a graduate of the San Carlos [art] Academy and a resident of Mexico.
By the early 2000s, Hagino was a working artist, with shows both here and abroad in various media, especially photography and video. But she “felt empty.”
Miho Hagino emigrated from Japan to Mexico after falling in love with Mexican art. (Miho Hagino Oficial/Facebook)
She felt isolated as an Asian in Mexico. Mexican culture, she says, is “… very Occidental, very competitive and very individualistic… I never felt I really “landed” in Mexico.”
Other foreign artists have dealt with this, and Hagino’s solution was similar: she began researching the experiences of Japanese immigrants to Mexico.
“[This] involved me in social issues, confronting many of the social realities of vulnerable groups,” she says.
Works like Kahlo’s “Self-Portrait as Tehuana” put the Isthmus in Hagino’s consciousness, reinforced by the photography of Graciela Iturbide. But it was meeting Felina Santiago, a noted advocate for the Muxe (Oaxaca’s nonbinary “third gender”), that Hagino became intimately involved with the Isthmus.
Singer-songwriter Nancy Zamher shows one of her Xunca garments
Soon afterward, she established her Paisaje Social (Social Landscape) Foundation, which looks to support marginalized groups through artistic projects.
A recent program under this umbrella is Xunca para Tecas, a Zapotec/Spanish mix of a name that translates to “endearing youngest daughter.” Its purpose is to buy and resell traditional huipil garments from the Isthmus, specifically in the Oaxaca municipality of Juchitán. But it does so with a twist.
The huipils themselves are cut and embroidered the traditional way, by both Muxe and women artisans living in Juchitán, plus those who have migrated to Mexico City. But the project experiments with the final sewing to create artistic garments.
These have had appeal to urban buyers, especially in Mexico City, particularly those who wear them in public appearances, such as the El Palomar Chorus that supports women’s issues.
The spark for the project was the September 7, 2017, Chiapas earthquake that hit Juchitán hard. Not only was there physical destruction, information about it got bumped out of the news cycle when another major quake hit central Mexico only 12 days later, causing major damage in Mexico City.
Xunca’s goal is to provide new markets for Tehuantepec’s traditional huipils by balancing innovation with tradition.
Mariela Espinoza is one of the hardworking women who makes the huipils on which Xunca para Tecas designed are based.
All huipils are initially cut and embroidered in the traditional way; no further cutting or decoration is allowed. All of the innovation comes from the final sewing of the seams.
Hagino is not comfortable telling artisans what to make, but economic considerations mean that special orders are negotiated, and accepted, if they are not “disrespectful” to tradition. This can be tricky because even certain color combinations can have cultural significance.
But some rather significant changes are being experimented with, most recently that of working with linen — rather than the synthetics that have taken over much of the making of huipils in the past century. The switch is being accepted in part because synthetics are not comfortable in Tehuantepec’s hot and humid climate; linen is durable and breathable.
However, almost all sales of Xunca’s garments are outside of the Isthmus region and, for now, concentrated in and through Mexico City. There has been some export, but this is still difficult for such a small project.
Although it has been five years since the 2017 earthquake, the project continues because Juchitán’s artisans still have great difficulty in making a living. Traditional communities are still struggling to rebuild, but more important to Hagino is the fact that the overall economy of Tehuantepec is changing.
With easy access to both the Pacific and the Gulf, abundant oil and wind power and cheap labor, industrialization is starting to take hold in the Isthmus, enticing the local populations to a more modern lifestyle.
The Coro El Palomar choir wearing Xunca para Tecas garments.
This is a personal issue for Hagino, who blames mass industrialization for making the Japanese people unhappy. They have lost touch with their traditional culture, she says, with a hectic lifestyle that makes them forget even how to cook their own food.
She wants Oaxaca to avoid this fate.
But that isn’t easy. Traditional huipil making has already been greatly modified. Natural fibers were replaced long ago by cheaper and brighter synthetics. Hand-embroidery disappears in favor of home sewing machines, which in turn are threatened by programmable ones.
The artisan participants are happy with the project, Hagino says, but avoiding economic, legal and social issues is not easy. The project allows the artisans to guide pricing for their huipils, working to keep other costs as low as possible so that the final product has a marketable price.
“Cultural appropriation has become something of a bomb, in large part because of Mexican authorities’ complaints about foreign designers making money with traditional indigenous garments [and] excluding the indigenous groups,” Hagino said.
Xunca Para Tecas used a Mexican fashion designer for the initial reworking, but that decision has not avoided issues over the use of the designs outside of the Tehuantepec community. Given recent controversies involving foreigners, innovation and traditional Mexican clothing, this situation is delicate, to say the least.
Leigh Thelmadatter arrived in Mexico over 20 years ago and fell in love with the land and the culture in particular its handcrafts and art. She is the author of Mexican Cartonería: Paper, Paste and Fiesta (Schiffer 2019). Her culture column appears regularly on Mexico News Daily.
Leafy lettuce is one of the biggest culprits when it comes to bacterial contamination.
What’s the one thing no “tropical table” should be without? (No, it’s not mangos.) Disinfectant. Bactericida.
Whether it’s that very big or really tiny blue bottle, a vinegar- or bleach-and-water solution or one of the new citrus seed extract formulas, disinfecting fruits and veggies before you eat them should be a regular part of your kitchen routine.
Why? Because as millions of people find out every year, there are a host of water-borne bacteria found on fruits and vegetables, the most common being salmonella, E. coli and listeria.
Washing with clean water or dish soap won’t remove or affect these bacteria, and even the tiniest trace of any of them can wreak havoc on one’s system and cause a week or more of very uncomfortable symptoms. (Some studies have shown that soaking in clean water for at least two minutes removes “some” Listeria bacteria.)
I never disinfected produce before I moved to Mexico (unless it was to try to remove pesticides, but that’s another topic), and I don’t know anyone in the United States who does. What I remember is being “told” (by whom I can’t say) that disinfecting produce in Mexico before eating it was a nonnegotiable.
Why? Because a) the water used in the fields for irrigation is not clean, and b) even if something has been washed, chances are the water wasn’t purified, taking you back to square one. It’s the same reason that we don’t drink tap water (unless you have a water purification system installed in your house).
No matter how ripe and beautiful fruits in the mercado or supermarket may look, they should be disinfected before eating. (Emilia Igartua/Unsplash)
I know some of you will say you never disinfect your produce and have had no adverse effects — good for you! That hasn’t been my experience, and recently, a very unpleasant three-week case of typhoid (a form of salmonella) reiterated the importance of disinfecting produce.
But the reality is I don’t really know what I’m doing. How much microbicide should I be using, and in how much water? How long should I be soaking the tomatoes or lettuce, grapes or blueberries in it? If I’m going to peel (carrots) or cook (broccoli) or do both (potatoes), do they still need to be disinfected?
Some folks say colloidal silver — the active ingredient in most microbicides — is harmful; is it? I have no idea about any of this. I just squirt “some” into a big bowl of water, swish it around a bit and then let it soak for a while, like 10 minutes. Or maybe 20? Quién sabe?
So let’s take a look.
Remove any bruised or broken berries before soaking for 15 minutes in a disinfectant solution.
The instructions on the big blue bottle of Member’s Mark bactericida say to use 1 Tbsp. of disinfectant for two liters of water and soak for 15 minutes.
That tiny (also blue) bottle of Microdyn recommends a drop to 1 liter of water and a 15-minute soak; the difference is the strength of the active ingredient — ionized or colloidal silver.
A long-proven antibacterial, colloidal silver solutions have been used for wound care in hospitals around the world for decades. While not safe to consume as a dietary supplement, numerous studies say the amounts and size of the microscopic silver particles in disinfectant solutions are excreted by the body in six hours or so with no lasting effects.
Fairly new on the market here in Mexico are “natural disinfectants” made from citrus seed extracts, which have been used for decades by commercial greenhouses and growers. The clear, lightly scented desinfectante natural liquid is found at Sam’s Club or Walmart in a 500 ml. spray bottle.
The label claims it “acts as a powerful antiseptic and broad-spectrum disinfectant, is very effective against a range of bacterial and fungal diseases and eliminates 99% of bacteria.” Directions say to “thoroughly spray” produce and let sit for 15 minutes.
Another option is to make your own produce wash with a simple solution of vinegar and water. The vinegar’s acetic acid level, say some biologists, is enough to kill “most” bacteria and inhibit their reproduction. Other studies say it’s not. You’ll have to decide for yourself.
A few drops of regular chlorine bleach can be used in the same way to make a mild solution if you’re comfortable with that.
Certain essential oils contain antibacterial properties too, but be sure to dilute them significantly before using!
Certain essential oils — tea tree, oregano, thyme and cinnamon — contain some antibacterial qualities too. If you’re going this route, be sure to dilute the oils significantly before soaking or spraying your produce.
Since we’re on the topic of food safety, I’ll mention a few other hotspots for food contamination and bacteria growth you may not have realized.
Having a party? Remember that cooked foods should be refrigerated within two hours of cooking. (Less if you’re in the tropics.) Going out to eat at a restaurant with a buffet? The same thing applies. Chances are those little sternos aren’t keeping the food hot enough to prevent bacteria from growing. Be aware.
No matter what your frugal mother told you, leftovers should be eaten within four days. Yes, they may still taste good, but the chances of bacterial growth rise exponentially after 96 hours or so.
And finally a topic that’s been the subject of numerous social media battles: should you rinse chicken before you cook it?
While poultry is known to contain significant amounts of “bad” bacteria (most notably salmonella), cooking it to an internal temperature of 165 F will kill it all. The danger of rinsing chicken (or any other raw meat) before cooking is that those pathogens are spread onto your sink in the water, and also onto faucets from your hands. There they wait patiently for you to wash some dishes or rinse your coffee cup.
One final note: Always remove broken or bruised leaves, stems, berries etc. before disinfecting produce. Those structural breaks allow pathogens to enter the cells, where they’re protected from the effect of whatever microbicide you’re using.
It’s easy to make your own microbicide solution with vinegar and water.
Homemade Produce Wash
1 cup distilled white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
4 cups water
1 lb. produce
Mix water (cool or room temp, not hot) and vinegar in a large bowl.
Sort produce, discarding any broken or bruised leaves, stems, etc. Add produce; let soak 10 minutes, stirring or agitating once or twice. Drain produce and rinse well with clean purified water to get rid of any lingering vinegar flavor or aroma. If not using right away, dry thoroughly after soaking to prevent spoilage.
