The prices of fruit, vegetables and meat are down from what they were in the last half of April, as are overall consumer prices, which fell 0.32% in the first half of May. (Victoria Valtierra Ruvalcaba/Cuartoscuro)
Annual inflation declined to a 20-month low of 6% in the first half of May, 0.25 percentage points lower than the rate recorded at the end of April.
The national statistics agency INEGI reported Wednesday that consumer prices fell 0.32% in the first half of the month compared to the second half of April.
This graph shows how much percentage variation there was between the last half of April and the first half of May each year from 2014 to the present.
The resultant 6% annual headline inflation rate is the lowest since September 2021.
INEGI reported that the annual core inflation rate, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was 7.45% in the first half of May, down from 7.67% in April.
The annual headline and core inflation rates were both lower than the median forecasts of economists polled by the news agency Reuters.
The publication of the latest data comes six days after the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) ended a monetary policy tightening cycle that lasted almost two years. Members of the bank’s governing board voted unanimously to hold the benchmark interest rate at a record high of 11.25%.
Inflation has declined steadily this year, but the headline rate remains double the central bank’s target of 3%.
The Bank of Mexico said that “to achieve an orderly and sustained convergence of headline inflation to the 3% target, it considers that it will be necessary to maintain the reference rate at its current level for an extended period.”
For the first time in nearly two years, Mexico’s central bank decided to hold the interest rate steady at 11.25% at its monthly meeting last week. Bank of Mexico officials have suggested, however, that they plan to stay at that rate for several months in order to get closer to its 3% target inflation rate. (File photo)
But with inflation falling, some analysts believe that Banxico could reduce its key interest rate before the end of the year.
“Banxico’s pause is perfectly safe now, and there may even be room for cuts before year’s end,” said Natalia Gurushina, chief emerging markets economist at investment manager VanEck.
Andres Abadia, chief Latin America economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said that rate cuts could come in September or November as inflation is “falling rapidly” and core inflation is “finally edging lower.”
INEGI data shows that processed foods, beverages and tobacco were 11.6% more expensive in the first half of May than a year earlier, while prices for meat rose 6.9%. Fruit and vegetable prices increased 3.9% on an annual basis while services were 5.4% more expensive.
Prices for fruit and vegetables, and meat, fell in the first half of the month compared to the second half of April, but those for goods in general (including processed foods, beverages and tobacco), services and housing rose.
A 1.5% annual decrease in energy prices, including those for fuel and electricity, and a 3% drop from the last half of April helped put downward pressure on inflation.
INEGI will publish inflation data for the entirety of May early next month ahead of a Banxico monetary policy meeting on June 22.
The new visa program will place Central American migrants in construction jobs to help speed along the president's infrastructure projects. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)
Mexico will launch a program this week offering Central American migrants temporary visas to work on public infrastructure projects, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Monday.
Ironworkers, tilers, engineers and tradesmen are needed in the construction of his government’s flagship projects, the president said at his weekly news conference. “We need a workforce for these projects, especially … skilled labor.”
The visas will be granted for one year.
The one-year visas will allow migrants to work on the construction of President López Obrador’s flagship projects, including the Maya Train. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)
Although he did not share details as to how many visas would be issued or for which of his government’s projects, he did stress that these jobs will not take away job opportunities for Mexicans. Migrants, he added, intend to stay only temporarily in the country.
“Their goal is to get to the United States, not to stay in Mexico,” he said.
López Obrador’s projects currently underway include the Maya Train, a tourist train linking destinations around the Yucatan Peninsula; the interoceanic corridor, a freight rail line crossing the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to create a trade route between Mexico’s Pacific and Gulf coasts; and the Dos Bocas refinery in the southern state of Tabasco.
To attract migrant workers, López Obrador explained that his government will launch a campaign in Central America to spread the word that salaries in Mexico are increasing.
President López Obrador promised that these temporary visitors wouldn’t take away jobs from Mexicans. “Their goal is to get to the United States, not to stay in Mexico,” he told reporters. (lopezobrador.org.mx)
During his Monday morning conference, he revealed that the United States president Joe Biden had sent a letter to his government that committed to increase its investment in Central America and the Caribbean. López Obrador has long pushed for investment in the region to create employment opportunities and stem migration.
While Biden didn’t share details of the investment, he promised to personally verify López Obrador’s visa project alongside Vice President Kamala Harris.
Every year, thousands of people flee poverty and violence in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua to head to the U.S. through Mexico.
According to the United States’ Migration Policy Institute, between October 2019 and March 2023, nationals of these four countries accounted for almost one-third of all 5.8 million migrant encounters at the Mexican-U.S. border.
The expiration of the pandemic-era Title 42 policy has gone smoothly according to the U.S. and Mexican governments. (Omar Martínez/Cuartoscuro)
Sharing official numbers from the United States Customs and Border Protection, López Obrador said that as opposed to the “scaremongering propaganda that was going on in the United States” a few weeks ago, detentions in the border have declined from 200,000 in April to some 150,000 in May — although May hasn’t ended yet.
“Fortunately, this [situation] was resolved,” he assured reporters.
Negotiations for Grupo México to buy the Mexican bank from Citigroup appear to have fallen through only a few days after 120 km of Grupo México's railroads were expropriated by the government. (Cuartoscuro)
Citigroup announced Wednesday that it would seek to sell Citibanamex on the stock market, ending conjecture that a US $7 billion sale to Grupo México was imminent.
The New York-based bank said in a statement that it would pursue an initial public offering (IPO) of its consumer, small business and middle-market banking operations in Mexico, which it referred to collectively as the “Business.”
Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser said that an IPO was in the best interest of shareholders. (Wikimedia Commons)
“As previously disclosed, Citi had been pursuing a dual process to exit the Business, including preparation for a possible IPO, with a commitment to deliver maximum value to its shareholders,” the bank said.
“The Business will retain the Banco Nacional de México (“Banamex”) brand and will remain one of the leading financial groups in Mexico.”
Grupo México, a mining and infrastructure conglomerate led by Germán Larrea, had been in talks with Citigroup to purchase Banamex and was reportedly close to reaching a deal.
Military forces took over parts of Ferrosur’s railroads on Friday. (Ángel Hernández/Cuartoscuro)
Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser said that “after careful consideration,” the bank concluded that “the optimal path to maximizing the value of Banamex for our shareholders and advancing our goal to simplify our firm is to pivot from our dual path approach to focus solely on an IPO of the business.”
The company said it would continue to operate a locally-licensed banking business in Mexico through its Institutional Clients Group (ICG) — which it noted provides banking and advisory services to private and public institutions, financial sector clients and investors — and through Citi Private Bank “for ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families.”
“This work, including obtaining the requisite regulatory approvals, is ongoing. Citi expects that the separation of the businesses will be completed in the second half of 2024 and that the IPO will take place in 2025.”
CNBC and Reuters both reported that sources familiar with the bank’s plans informed them that a dual listing on stock exchanges in Mexico and the United States was possible.
A Reuters source said that recent complications related to the sale process influenced Citi’s decision, including demands made by the Mexican government. Restrictions imposed by the government included a ban on large-scale layoffs.
When Citigroup bought Banamex, it also acquired buildings and antique cultural objects of Mexico curated by the Mexican bank, such as this Renaissance-era building in Mérida. (Wolfgang Sauber/Wikimedia Commons)
Citi said that approximately 38,000 employees supporting a wide range of Banamex business interests including credit cards, retail banking and consumer loans would “remain part of Banamex.”
It also said that Banamex’s art collection and historical buildings would remain part of the bank after the IPO is executed.
Citi purchased Banamex in 2001 for US $12.5 billion and developed it into Mexico’s fourth largest bank. The former noted in its statement that Banamex has 1,300 branches, 9,000 ATMs, 12.7 million retail banking clients, 6,600 commercial banking clients and 10 million pension fund customers.
President López Obrador said Tuesday that the government could buy a majority stake Banamex if the sale to Grupo México didn’t go ahead. He said Wednesday that he would speak with Finance Minister Rogelio Ramírez de la O about the possibility of purchasing the bank.
“Almost all governments have a bank, here we don’t,” López Obrador said.
While these may look like other chiles you've seen, the chile chicuarote is quite rare, only grown in San Gregorio Altapulco, in the Xochimilco borough of Mexico City. (Photos by Joseph Sorrentino)
Most people who hear chile chicuarote won’t know what it refers to; a few may think it’s the full title to the movie by Gael García Bernal.
But chile chicuarote is a small, spicy chile endemic to the Valley of Mexico and one that’s virtually unknown outside of San Gregorio Atlapulco, a pueblo originario in the Xochimilco borough of Mexico City.
Residents of that pueblo are so enamored with this chile, in fact, that they proudly call themselves chicuarotes.
Pueblos originarios like San Gregorio Atlapulco get the designation by the government for having maintained their indigenous traditions. In San Gregorio, that means yearly processions, pilgrimages and fiestas — lots of fiestas — most of them featuring traditional dancers and concheros, traditional musicians.
It also means making salsas with their beloved chile chicuarote.
“The Nahuatl name was chicualoni,” said Javier Márquez Juárez, who has studied and written about San Gregorio’s pre-Hispanic history. “Chi means chile and cualoni means ‘good flavor’ or ‘agreeable spice.’
San Gregorio Atlapulco resident and farmer Ernesto García Zeferino with chile chicuarote plants still in their chapines.
“The fresh chile is green, although when more mature, it turns red. The dried chile is also red and is called chilcostli … It is spicier than the green.”
However, he said the chile wasn’t too picoso (spicy), and Erendira González, another chicuarote, described it as “sweet and spicy.”
Márquez told me that chile chicuarote have only ever been planted in the Valley of Mexico. “They were grown mostly in San Gregorio, Xochimilco, Milpa Alta and Tlahuac. Now, they’re only planted in San Gregorio, where fewer than 10 people plant it.”
All 10 are chinamperos, the name given to people who work the ancient agricultural area in San Gregorio — known as the chinampería.
The chinampería consists of manmade islands — called chinampas — crisscrossed by canals carrying water to the land. There’s evidence that chinampas were first built around 5,000 years ago.
The ones in San Gregorio are probably 1,500 to 2,000 years old. San Gregorio is one of only three towns in which the chinampería is still actively farmed.
Chinamperos, people who farm the ancient man-made islands in San Gregorio, put seeds into traditional chapines.
Ernesto García Zeferino is one of the 10 chinamperos who still plant the chile chicuarote. He grows it on chinampas that have belonged to his family for close to 150 years.
“I am the fifth generation in my family to grow this chile,” he said proudly. “My abuelo said it was their daily food. Because they were poor, they ate what they grew.”
He said that he’s one of 40 grandchildren, and the only one to work in the chinampería.
In March, García put several chile seeds into dozens of small mud squares called chapines. In May, the plants were big enough to be placed in the chinampa. I went with him as he headed to his land to do the plantings.
García carried a tray of chile plants to his chinampa, knelt on the ground, and dug a small hole.
“It is important to put more than one plant in a hole,” he said. “If there is only one, it will not produce many chiles. With more plants, there are more chiles.”
He used his hand to measure the distance to the next hole — 1.5 hand widths, about 10 inches, is the right spacing, he says. More plants went into that hole. He continued this process until the end of a row, something that took about 40 minutes.
When finished, he’ll have four long rows of chile chicuarote planted. He estimates that he’ll put about 1,000 chile plants into the ground.
The chile is usually available fresh only in July and August, although the harvest can sometimes stretch into late September. Márquez said that it isn’t popular outside of San Gregorio.
“There is really no market for it. It is a local product. Chinamperos plant lettuce and other things because they can sell [that] anywhere.”
Juan Serralde, another chinampero who grows the chile, said that peoples’ tastes have changed.
García using his hand to space the chile plants.
“Before, our ancestors ate a lot of chile chicuarote. Now there are other chiles available, like chile poblano, chile de arbol, jalapeños. Those are found everywhere in Mexico. Chile chicuarote is only grown here in San Gregorio. It is not as popular as other chiles because it is not considered modern.”
“People have changed their way of eating,” he said. “They eat hamburgers.”
Chile chicuarote may not be popular, or even known, outside of San Gregorio, but it still has a big role here in the pueblo’s cuisine.
“It is important to save this chile because it is part of the traditional food here,” said Márquez. “Also, it is part of the pueblo’s identity. It is used in mich mole, chile atole, all of the green salsas.”
As with virtually all traditional foods, every home in San Gregorio has a special recipe using chile chicuarote.
Márquez insisted that all you need to make a delicious salsa was about half a kilo of tomatoes and a small handful of chopped fresh or dried chiles (remove the seeds for less heat). The recipe preferred by Gonzalez and her husband Ari Castro Galicia had more ingredients.
While Márquez uses both fresh and dried chicuarotes, Gonzalez and Castro only use fresh ones.
“First, heat the chiles on a comal [a sort of Mexican griddle used daily in Mexican homes],” said Gonzalez. “Then put them in a plastic bag for several minutes. Peel the skin, remove the seeds and tear up the chile. Chop the tomatoes, add onion, garlic, cilantro, lime and salt.”
Although people are happy to give you their recipe, no one can tell you exactly how much of each ingredient to use. When asked, Gonzalez said, “A su gusto [to your taste].”
Los Chicuas
San Gregorio’s chicuarote chile farmers are the subject of the short documentary, “Las Chicuas,” which you can view for free on YouTube.
Once you adjust the recipe to your taste, Castro said, “Put some in a cheese or chicharron taco.” It also goes well on sopes.
So why did San Gregorio’s residents become known as chicuarotes? There are several explanations that can be found online. One is that the chile is known to be hard and resilient, like the pueblo’s residents.
But, said Castro, “Nobody really knows why we are called chicuarotes. Chicuarote is synomous with ‘terco,’ which means ‘stubborn.’”
When asked if people from San Gregorio were stubborn, he didn’t hesitate.
Victor Ochoa was one of Mexico's prolific inventors. He was also a staunch opponent of dictator Porfirio Diaz. (Smithsonian)
Although their names may not be well known outside of Mexico, many Mexicans have been instrumental in the creation of inventions that have changed lives around the world. These developments in medicine, technology and aeronautics are often believed to have originated in other countries but were in fact invented by people from Mexico.
Chemist Luis Miramontes was still a college student at Mexico’s Syntex Corporation that discovered how to synthesize the synthetic hormone norethisterone, paving the way to the creation of the world’s first oral contraceptive pill. Guillermo González Camarena was just 23 years old when in 1940 he received the world’s first patent for a color television system.
Luis Miramontes, a Mexican scientist and one of the inventors of the contraceptive pill. (Wikimedia)
But perhaps the most fascinating and prolific Mexican inventor was Victor Ochoa. A multifaceted character, Ochoa was by turns an inventor, revolutionary, journalist, union organizer, miner, business owner and a fugitive from the law in both Mexico and the United States.
Ochoa was born in Ojinaga, Chihuahua in Mexico but was raised in El Paso, Texas. In 1889 he obtained U.S. citizenship and began a life of political and social activism. In 1891, he held a meeting where he delivered a speech about the need for self-protection and fair wages to a group of 300 Mexicans living in El Paso. At the same time, he helped organize La Unión Occidental Mexicana to preserve Spanish as a language and promote cooperation and support among the Mexican community.
When he discovered that Mexican President Porfirio Díaz had ordered the confiscation of land owned by his family in Chihuahua, Ochoa became a revolutionary. Believing the Porfirio Díaz regime to be a monarchy, Ochoa decided that Díaz needed to be overthrown.
Ochoa organized his own army of several hundred Mexicans living in El Paso and led what may have been the earliest uprising against Díaz. He and his men would go back and forth between El Paso and Chihuahua, attacking federal soldiers. On one of their raids, he and his rebels were ambushed by Díaz’s army, who killed most of his men and arrested Ochoa.
Victor Ochoa photographed in the late 19th century, when he was not only coming up with inventions but also leading rebel activity against Mexico’s dictator Porfirio Díaz. (Smithsonian)
Historians believe that he escaped by stealing a military uniform. Ironically, however, Diaz’s soldiers mistook him for a deserter and chased him for 300 treacherous miles through the mountains until he finally eluded them.
Díaz offered a $50,000 peso reward for Ochoa’s capture, dead or alive. Evading bounty hunters, Ochoa took refuge in Fort Stockton, Texas, but was eventually arrested by American authorities for violating U.S. neutrality laws. He got himself acquitted and returned to the border to resume his insurgent activities.
Although he was continuously on the run, evading arrest on both sides of the Rio Grande, Ochoa declared to the U.S. press that he would continue his efforts to overthrow Díaz and fight for the rights of the Mexican people.
Ochoa was arrested once again in 1895 by the Texas Rangers for violating federal neutrality laws. He was sentenced to 2½ years in the Kings County Penitentiary in Brooklyn, New York, and lost his U.S. citizenship.
Díaz insisted he be extradited to Mexico, but President Grover Cleveland refused. During his incarceration, Ochoa began his career as an inventor, sketching his ideas on pieces of paper.
Ochoa’s patented “clincher plyers.” (Smithsonian)
After his release, Ochoa spread rumors of his own death to throw off bounty hunters and settled down with his family in New Jersey to begin transforming his sketches into actual inventions.
Among them were an adjustable wrench which he called “clincher plyers”; the reversible motor; a magnetic brake for streetcars, which he sold to the American Brake Company; a fountain pen design, which he sold to the Waterman Company; and a pen design featuring a pocket clip that he sold to the American Pen and Pencil Company. The windmill he designed created enough electricity to light a house.
But the star of his inventions was one of the earliest aircraft prototypes, what he called a collapsible monoplane, or the Ochoa Plane — a glider with folding wings that he mounted on two bicycle frames. To develop his inventions, Ochoa founded the International Airship Company and the Ochoa Tool & Machine Company.
On February 15, 1906, years after his release from prison, his friend U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt granted his application for a pardon and restored his American citizenship. Ochoa continued to monitor political developments in Mexico from New Jersey. One day, however, he suddenly disappeared, leaving behind his inventions.
One of Ochoa’s flying machines, with foldable wings. (Smithsonian)
He had returned to El Paso to continue his political activities, combining them with journalism; he founded two newspapers, El Hispano-Americano and El Correo del Bravo. Documents from the archives at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian show that Ochoa was incarcerated again at the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, on February 18, 1917, and released on May 1, 1918.
While in Leavenworth, Ochoa continued to market his inventions, even writing the Navy to suggest that they use his Ornithopter as a prototype for designing airplanes.
Ochoa was also a miner, acquiring two gold mines in Sonora. He went into a business partnership on the mines with two men who offered to help him enlarge his gold mine production. They later double-crossed him, stealing all his gold and horses and leaving him to die in the desert.
According to interviews given by his son Stephen Ochoa, in 1936, his father was walking down the street in El Paso with the police chief when he saw his two former business partners coming toward him; they drew their guns. Ochoa was unarmed but grabbed the chief’s gun and killed them both.
Two men holding a prototype aircraft with a bicycle frame, another of Ochoa’s inventions. (Smithsonian)
Ochoa was once again brought before a judge, who determined that the shootings were justified but told Ochoa that given that the two dead men were from influential families, it might be best if Ochoa returned to Mexico. Ochoa took the judge’s advice and moved to Sonora in 1936.
Between 1901 and 1922, Ochoa was a prodigious inventor, even while leading an uprising, evading the law and being incarcerated. In addition to his patents in the United States and Mexico, he received patents in nine other countries.
This remarkable man is believed to have died in 1945 in Sonora with his wife Amanda Cole — granddaughter of painter Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School for artists — at his side.
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.
Deputy Interior Minister Alejandro Encinas, head of the Ayotzinapa truth commission, has investigated the military's involvement in the 2014 student massacre and disappearance. Daniel Augusto / Cuartoscuro.com
President López Obrador on Tuesday responded to a media report that claimed that Deputy Interior Minister Alejandro Encinas has been a victim of espionage.
The New York Times reported Monday that the deputy interior minister for human rights, population and migration has been spied on repeatedly with the Israeli-developed Pegasus spyware system, which can infiltrate and extract information from cell phones.
AMLO said his government – unlike previous administrations, such as under ex-security minister Genaro García Luna (pictured) during the Calderón presidency – has not spied on anyone. (Cuartoscuro)
The newspaper cited unnamed people who spoke to Encinas about the hack as well as a forensic analysis conducted by the University of Toronto-based Citizen Lab, which has researched and reported on the use of Pegasus in Mexico.
The Times said there is “no definitive proof” which government agency used Pegasus to infiltrate Encinas’ phone, but added that “the military is the only entity in Mexico that has access to the spyware, according to five people familiar with the contracts.”
The Times said that the deputy minister “has been one of the few people willing to criticize the military from inside” López Obrador’s government.
Retired general José Rodríguez Pérez was one of the members of the military implicated in the investigation into the Ayotzinapa case by Deputy Interior Minister Encinas. (Sedena)
Asked about the newspaper’s report at his morning press conference, the president said that Encinas had spoken to him about the espionage allegation, and that he told him to not “attach importance” to it because “there was no intention [of the government] to spy on anyone.”
López Obrador said he didn’t know whether Encinas had actually been spied on before repeating his assertion that his government doesn’t spy on anyone, a claim at odds with an investigation published late last year that found that the Defense Ministry (Sedena) used Pegasus spyware against journalists and human rights defenders in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
The president acknowledged that Encinas told him that he had “probably” been a victim of espionage.
“By who? … It’s not known. … What we have to be very conscious of is that nobody should be spied on; that was done before in the time of [former security minister and convicted drug trafficker Genaro] García Luna, when The New York Times and The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal … said nothing and the media outlets in Mexico even less,” López Obrador said.
Tomás Zerón (left), is wanted in connection with the Ayotzinapa case as well as the purchase of Pegasus spyware. Here Zerón is pictured with former attorney general Jesús Murillo Karam, who was detained in August. (Gob MX)
The president, who has allocated a wide range of non-traditional tasks to the military during his 4 1/2 years in office, said that the claim Encinas was spied on wouldn’t be investigated simply because “we don’t spy” and “we’re not the same” as previous governments.
“We don’t torture and in this government there are no massacres [by federal security forces] as there previously were, and human rights are respected,” López Obrador said.
The publication of The New York Times report came a week after the Federal Attorney General’s Office announced that it is prosecuting the former head of the now-defunct Criminal Investigation Agency, Tomás Zerón, and three other ex-officials in connection with the “illegal” purchase of the Pegasus spyware system in 2014.
The Centro Prodh human rights organization said on Twitter Tuesday that it was regrettable that López Obrador was “playing down espionage that his administration carries out against human rights defenders, journalists and … even the deputy minister for human rights.”
“… Everything points to the army being behind the current use of Pegasus. Our solidarity with … Alejandro Encinas and his team. The attacks against him show that his human rights work has faced internal obstacles,” the organization said.
The Mexico branch of press freedom advocacy organization Article 19 said there is “ample evidence” that the army has used Pegasus against human rights activists and journalists, and described López Obrador’s refusal to investigate the armed forces in light of The New York Times report as “regrettable.”
“We condemn that the government maintains complicit silence about military espionage, hides information about the acquisition of Pegasus and covers up its illegal use by the Military Intelligence Center,” Article 19 MX said in another tweet.
Eduardo Bohórquez, head of the Mexican chapter of international nonprofit organization Transparency International, told The Times that “if someone as close to the president as Alejandro Encinas is targeted, it’s clear there’s no democratic control over the spy tool.”
“There’s no checks and balances,” he added. “The military is a superpower with zero democratic oversight.”
Many farmers have raised the alarm that the collapse in the price of grain leaves them at risk of ruin in 2023 and threatens the Mexican economy by significantly raising the cost of basic foodstuffs. (Juan Pablo Zamora/Sader/Cuartoscuro)
Farmers across Mexico are demanding the government raise the guaranteed minimum price of grain, arguing that falling prices are threatening their livelihoods.
Representativesmet on Friday with Interior Minister Adán Augusto López to request a guaranteed price of 7,000 pesos (US $390) per ton of corn, and 8,000 pesos (US $445) per ton of wheat.
Segalmex is intended to help farmers with low annual yields to turn a profit, though many farmers say the guaranteed prices are currently too low for many farmers to operate. (Segalmex)
“We’re not expecting big responses because we don’t see the will of the president or officials to address this serious problem,” Heraclio Rodríguez, a farmer from Chihuahua, told the newspaper El Sol de México.
“They think that because we harvest 500 tons of corn, we’re rich, but no, we are very indebted.”
The farmer said that if an agreement was not reached, farmers would return to demonstrations and consider blockading ports, offices and bridges.
Grain producers from the northern states of Sinaloa, Sonora and Baja California have already spent much of May protesting in support of higher prices, including blockading three Pemex plants in Sinaloa, the offices of the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry in Sonora and the Puente Colorado Bridge in Baja California.
Global grain prices have dropped more than 50% over the last 18 months in large part due to a deal allowing grain to be exported from Ukrainian ports in order to preserve food security. (Dreamstime)
The government food security program Segalmex currently guarantees prices of 6,805 pesos (US $380) per ton of corn and 7,480 pesos (US $415) per ton of wheat but only to small farmers with no more than five hectares of seasonal crops.
In early May, the Rural Development and Conservation Commission recommended the minimum price be raised, in line with farmers’ demands, to protect their investments against the volatility of grain prices.
A new Segalmex program waslaunched in May to buy a million tons of white corn directly from farmers in Sinaloa at 6,965 pesos (US $390) per ton, but the scheme is open only to those with 10 hectares or less of crops.
Global grain prices have dropped more than 50% over the last 18 months — from an all-time high in March 2022 — largely thanks to a deal allowing grain to be exported from Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea. Although the deal was crucial for global food security, these large fluctuations have undermined farmers’ ability to plan their finances.
Analysts have warned that the current market price for grain in Mexico will leave many farmers unable to recoup their investment in this year’s production. This would have a severe impact on an industry that contributes around 166 billion pesos (US $9.24 billion) a year to the Mexican economy.
It could also potentially threaten next year’s production.
Corn is a staple of the Mexican diet, consumed in large part via tortillas. Experts predict if farmers go bankrupt, the price of tortillas could reach 50 pesos per kilo next year. According to the Economy Ministry, the average national price in May was about 22 pesos per kilo. (Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)
“It’s something we can’t stand for,” Marte Nicolás Vega Román, president of the Confederation of Agricultural Associations of Sinaloa State (CAADES) told El Economista newspaper, warning that many farmers are now relying on credit to bring in their harvest.
“We producers would go totally bankrupt, and a domino effect would be generated.”
The problem is particularly acute in Sinaloa state — Mexico’s largest corn producer, where agriculture makes up 11.9% of the economy. Also hard hit is Sonora, which produces more than 50% of Mexico’s wheat.
But analysts warn the grain crisis could have ripple effects throughout the Mexican economy — undermining food sovereignty, lowering demand for other goods and accelerating food price inflation.
“If the corn producers of this region go bust, next year we’ll see kilos of tortillas at 40 or 45 pesos in Mexico City,” food price analyst Samuel Sarmiento Gámez told El Economista newspaper.
That would be about double the current average national price per kilo for tortillas, currently selling for around 22 pesos, according to the Economy Ministry.
Sarmiento recalled that last year, grain producers responded to a plea from the federal government to raise production to counter inflation.
“The problem is that now, the federal government is stepping aside,” he said.
Wines at the CMB are blind tasted and scored by a team of international judges. (CMB)
A Mexican white wine has been crowned the highest-scoring “international revelation” at the thirtiethConcours Mondiale de Bruxelles (CMB), a prestigious international wine contest held this year from 12-14 May in Poreč, Croatia.
The winning wine –Cenzontle Blanco 2019 – is produced in Valle de Guadalupe by enologist Jesús Rivera, for Finca El Empecinado. It is made with grapes from Baja California and aged in French oak barrels.
The Cezontle Blanco 2019 is the third prize-winning wine by Jesús Rivera, the first enologist to win with both a red and a white wine. (Finca El Empecinado)
It was awarded the highest score in its category out of 7,504 competitors from 50 countries, after a blind tasting by 304 judges.
The wine is described as a medium-bodied fusion of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Palomino, with aromas of pineapple, green apple, peach, mandarin, guayaba and notes of butter. It is a canary yellow color with golden flecks.
This is Rivera’s third prize-winning entry at the CMB, after his first winning white in 2016, followed by a red in 2019. He is the first competitor in CMB history to win the contest’s highest award with both a red and a white wine.
A total of85 Mexican wines were given medals at the awards. Besides Cenzontle Blanco 2019, other winners of the highest Grand Gold medal were the Vino Santo Domingo 2017, another Baja California wine, and Tres Raíces Pinot Noir 2021, from Guanajuato.
Next year’s CMB will be held from June 7-9 in Guanajuato, Mexico. It will be the first time the competition has been held in the Americas.
The tiny shop offers authentic Belgian delicacies including waffles and chocolate. (Courtesy)
Charm. Quality. Family. Authenticity. These are the words that sprang to mind when I walked through the little door at Mesones 56 in San Miguel de Allende’s historic center, and into Los Waffles de Paul.
This utterly delightful mother and son team from Belgium – Marie Pascale-Gérard and Paul – make a mean waffle. And I mean, melt in your mouth, like I’ve never tasted before, waffle. There are hundreds of interesting eateries now in San Miguel de Allende, but this menu is unique and delectable, including not just signature Belgian waffles, but also chocolat chaud, chocolate mousse, sweet coffee and chouquette. As you will learn in the interview below, they are just getting started!
How did you get here, Marie?
Back in my day in Belgium, one went away for a year at age 18 to gain life experience. My father had been captivated by some Mexicans he’d met, and suggested Mexico, so I said, why not?
I ended up in Celaya, with three host families, and had the adventure of my life. I fell in love with Mexico.
I studied law back in Belgium, got married, had three kids, became obsessed with food and cooking, then moved to NY, then Montreal and Geneva, and yet I always had this yearning for Mexico.
Well, now my youngest is 20 years old. He’s full of creativity, but he suffers from dysphasia (a language disorder) – and that’s a hard path, especially in Europe – so we decided last year to invent a new life. I set my mind to return to Mexico, where it’s warm and happy, where I feel something truly different is possible, by 2023. And I decided to build a business. Something my son could create. Something unique to us, that could continue into the future as a family legacy.
Why San Miguel de Allende?
I visited San Miguel in the late ’80s, when I was living in Celaya. It was different then, the expat scene – just bohemians, art, fun. I remember there was a fantastic nightclub! And going home in the wee hours of the morning…
When I first had this idea to move somewhere new with my son, San Miguel struck me as the ideal place for a small, family business. It’s beautiful, historical, large enough to be “happening”, small enough to have a close-knit community.
San Miguel de Allende is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of Mexico’s most well-known colonial cities. (Miranda Garside / Unsplash)
Brussels and Montreal are such international cities, and New York is New York, but San Miguel is really a mecca for young families, entrepreneurs, dreamers. It’s easy to integrate here; the Mexicans are generous, curious, and it feels like there’s room for everyone – if you make an effort to fit in and learn the language too!
Marie, tell me about these waffles. Why have I never tasted a waffle like this?
These are real Belgian waffles! We make a Liège waffle. There are two traditional kinds of waffles from Brussels and this is the street version. It’s therefore round, not rectangular.
We have the authentic mix shipped to Mexico, and delivered here by truck. We’re playing with the Belgian clichés – waffles and chocolate – the mousse, the spread, the hot chocolate, the chouquette (an empty profiterole with pearl sugar on top).
Our story and where we’re from is what makes us, and brings authenticity to our business. In fact, our family business back home, Couplet Sugars, is one of the most successful sugar companies (selling to Kellogg’s now). The sugar comes from the white beet, not sugarcane, and we invented pearl sugar. It’s a different sweetness, and the pearls don’t melt! So that’s the crunch you get. Our business is our story, and that’s why I’ve put up our family photos going back six generations.
Authentic Liège waffles and pearl sugar. (Courtesy)
And of course, there’s the chocolate sauce, the drinking chocolate. We use our favorite Belgian chocolate. And we sweeten our special coffee with pearl sugar too. We recently decided to name this coffee after my mother, “café Martine.”
Paul, you’re the namesake of Los Waffles de Paul. How does it all feel?
I love it! My Mum and I have set this up together from start to finish, and I’m loving getting to know all the different people here, learning Spanish, figuring out our next steps. My Mum is brimming with ideas, and she’s always been an amazing cook. We love brainstorming together.
Paul in the cozy shop. (Courtesy)
Being a business owner here feels exciting, there’s so much possibility. Everyone responds so well to our little cafe and all the quirks. I feel at home here and yes, I want to stay!
I’m the seventh generation in a family dynasty of confectioners sugar and this seems like an original way to continue that legacy. I think our ancestors would approve of the Mexican reception so far.
By the way, my actual name is Aymeric, but my fifth name is Paul, and my Mexican “tía”, Gaby – well, my Mum’s host’s sister from her time in Celaya – said, “use that, the Mexicans will be able to say it!”
This place is so cozy – there are four chairs! Do you plan to expand?
We wanted to start right in the heart of centro histórico but we will be moving to Mercado Carmen (Pila Seca 19) by mid-June. We need the bustle!
We do like the intimacy of this place though, and we’ll have that in our new spot too. We’ve gotten to know our customers – they always return! And we meet new people from all over the world, every day. Feedback from customers inspires us to invent something new; a chocolate fondant cookie, ideas for a savory waffle. Someone recently told me the waffle was so gourmet, they wanted bubbles, a prosecco with it! Which gave us some ideas…
Pearl sugar-studded chouquette at Waffles de Paul. (Courtesy)
We’ve already done some events – the waffles went down well with red wine at a KW Allende realtors event. We’d like to partner with caterers, too. I can see us at weddings, parties or a special family brunch. There is so much going on here in San Miguel! Belgian waffles offer something fun and novel.
Paul, how does this compare to being in Belgium?
I thought maybe we’d see how this went for a year or so, but I love it here. I know we can make it. The culture and the community is so friendly and open. It was hard for me back home, but this, we get to do ourselves, to pioneer our dreams. And I think the Mexican way fosters that.
I love your shirts, and what’s this measuring chart?
Oh yeah, my Mum’s artistic touch! I’ve got my white shirt with “Paul” embossed in gold, and she’s got hers; “la Mama de Paul”. And that chart? Anyone who measures taller than I am gets a free waffle!
Paul is 6 feet 2 inches tall.
Los Waffles de Paul is open 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., every day except Wednesday.
Henrietta Weekes is a writer, editor, actor and narrator. She divides her time between San Miguel de Allende, New York and Oxford, UK.
The company has yet to provide details on how the significant investment funds will be used in Nuevo León. (Samuel García/Twitter)
Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Quanta Computer will invest US $1 billion in the northern state of Nuevo León, Governor Samuel García announced on Monday.
Quanta is a Taiwanese computer manufacturer. The company is the latest in a growing line of Asian firms to nearshore in Nuevo León, which has seen significant investment in 2023. (Samuel García/Twitter)
García shared the news in a video taken at Quanta Computer’s offices in Taiwan, which he posted on Twitter, saying that the investment will create 2,500 jobs. The deal with Quanta is a result of nearshoring and of the “economic boom” Nuevo León is experiencing, he added.
“Nuevo León’s moment is now,” he later tweeted.
The Nuevo León governor stated in the video that other major Asian manufacturers would also be opening locations in his state, an opportunity he attributed to the current conflict between the United States and China.
“There’s a geopolitical issue, a conflict between the U.S. and China,” García said. “The U.S. has said everyone has to leave China and come to North America, and the big winner is Nuevo León, which is receiving 72% of nearshoring. For Nuevo León, a good year in foreign investment was US $2 billion dollars. This year, we’re aiming for $17 billion at the minimum.”
The investment was announced by García through his social media accounts. (Samuel García/Twitter)
The Economy Ministry (SE) reported strong preliminary numbers of US $18.6 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in Mexico in the first quarter; Nuevo León was the second-largest recipient of investment (US $2.3 billion) in the first three months of the year, behind Mexico City.
Pedro Campa, Quanta’s vice president of manufacturing operations in Mexico, told Reuters that the company already has invested nearly US $500 million and hired 2,500 employees in Nuevo León.
On Monday, García also met with executives from Taiwan-based Foxconn, a major Apple supplier.
In a statement, Foxconn said that García “comprehensively introduced the environment and opportunities for electric vehicle (EV) development in his state.”
Foxconn is better known for assembling iPhones, iPads, Kindles, GoPro cameras, PlayStations and the Xbox 360.
In line with his plans to turn Nuevo León into a global electromobility hub, García tweeted on Tuesday that he wants to help with the expansion of “any company that wants to invest in electromobility, technology, innovation, science and sustainable energy.”
