The discovery of the new "Kan" oilfield was made in Block 30, which is surrounded by several other major deposits, just off the coast of Tabasco. (Frank Meyer/Wintershall Dea)
The German energy company Wintershall Dea has announced an “important discovery of oil” at its “Kan” exploration well, 25 kilometers (15 miles) off the coast of Tabasco.
The discovery is in the shallow waters of the Salina Basin, in an exploration area known as Block 30, whichWintershall Dea operates alongside its partners Harbour Energy and Sapura OMV. It is estimated to contain 200 to 300 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE).
Wintershall Dea team on the Borr Ran rig in the Gulf of Mexico. (Wintershall Dea)
“This important discovery at Wintershall Dea’s first own-operated exploration well offshore Mexico is a great success,” said Hugo Dijkgraaf, Wintershall Dea’s Chief Technology Officer.
He recalled that Block 30 was one of the most contested blocks of Mexico’s bid round 3.1, in 2018, when the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto auctioned various contracts for shallow water oil exploration to foreign and private companies.
“The successful Kan discovery confirms the attractiveness of Block 30, complementing Wintershall Dea’s outstanding Mexican license portfolio,” Dijkgraaf said. “It is a significant step to extending our footprint in Mexico, contributing to the development of a potential new hub in the shallow waters of the Sureste Basin.”
Wintershall Dea holds a 40% stake in Block 30, with Harbour Energy and Sapura OMV each holding 30%.
The Kan field is one of several discovered in blocks operated by Wintershall Dea in the Gulf of Mexico. (Wintershall Dea)
The Kan well is at around 50 meters of water depth and located near several other significant oil discoveries in which Wintershall Dea has working interests, including Zama – one of the world’s largest shallow-water oil discoveries of the last 20 years – Polok and Chinwol.
The company is now evaluating data to submit a discovery appraisal plan to Mexico’s Hydrocarbon Agency (CNH) by the end of July 2023. Meanwhile, the rig that drilled the Kan well will be moved to another prospect within Block 30, about 20 kilometers northeast of Kan.
Wintershall Dea’s find is possibly even bigger than asimilar oil discovery announced last month by Italian energy company Eni, in the mid-deep waters of the Salina Basin, which was estimated to contain up to 200 million BOE.
Wintershall Dea arrived in Mexico in 2017 and has been producing hydrocarbons in the country since 2018. Its Mexican projects include the onshore oil field Ogarrio, in Tabasco, in which it holds a 50% stake alongside state oil company Pemex.
However, no more oil and gas concessions have been auctioned to private companies since President López Obrador took office in late 2018. The president is is fiercely critical of his predecessor’s privatization of Mexico’s historically state-run energy sector.
AMLO claims that private and foreign oil companies have failed to meet production expectations, and has instead implemented policies that favor Pemex over private energy firms.
Automotive exports surged 15.6% compared to March of 2022, totally $16.43 billion last month. (Carlos Aranda/Unsplash)
Mexican exports generated revenue of more than US $53 billion in March, the highest amount ever in a single month.
Preliminary data published by the national statistics agency INEGI on Thursday showed that exports increased 3.2% annually last month to reach just under $53.56 billion.
Mining had lower numbers than other parts of the economy — for example, the automotive sector — but it saw a 15.5% spike in exports last month. (File photo)
Over 95% of that amount – just under $51 billion – came from non-oil exports including manufactured goods, which were worth $47.62 billion, a 5.3% increase from a year earlier.
Within the manufactured goods category, exports of vehicles and auto parts surged 15.6% compared to March of 2022, reaching $16.43 billion.
The value of non-auto manufacturing exports, including medical and scientific equipment and electronic devices, was $31.2 billion, a 0.6% increase compared to a year earlier.
Mexico has benefited from strong demand for manufactured goods in the United States as well as the relocation of companies that make those products for sale in that market, a growing phenomenon known as nearshoring.
Oil was the only sector that saw a backward trend in exports in March. Its exports numbers declined 26%. This is partly due to the government’s policy of achieving energy self-sufficiency and exporting less. (Jaochainoi/Istock)
INEGI data showed that just over 83% of all non-oil exports went to the United States in the first three months of the year.
The only export category that went backwards in dollar terms in March compared to the same month last year was oil, which declined 27.6% to $2.58 billion. One factor that contributed to the decline is that Mexico is refining more crude at home as it seeks to achieve self sufficiency for fuel.
President López Obrador has said that exporting crude and importing gasoline is like shipping oranges abroad and buying the fruit back as juice.
The value of imports increased 1.1% to $52.39 billion in March, leaving Mexico with a monthly trade surplus of $1.17 billion. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had predicted a $900 million deficit.
INEGI data also showed that the value of Mexico’s exports increased 6.8% in the first three months of the year to $141.08 billion. Almost 90% of that amount came from manufactured goods.
Imports increased at a slower pace – 6.5% – but at $145.88 billion still exceeded exports between January and March, leaving Mexico with a first quarter trade deficit of $4.8 billion.
Despite controversy over his inclusion, Streams Charts says Mexico's president is on their list of the most popular Spanish-language streamers. (lopezobrador.org.mx)
President López Obrador ranks among the top 10 most popular streamers in the Spanish-speaking world, according to analytics service Streams Charts.
AMLO’s YouTube channel was No. 6 on Streams Charts’ list of most streamed Spanish-language channels, racking up 13.2 million viewing hours during the first quarter of 2023.
At No. 6, AMLO was the highest-placing Mexican streamer on Streams Charts list, ahead of compatriot ElMariana at No. 8. (StreamsCharts/Twitter)
The channel live streams during AMLO’s daily morning press conferences, known as mañaneras, which have been a key feature of his administration.
“Mexican president AMLO’s YouTube channel is quite active live streaming, informing the country’s citizens about the various actions of its leaders and any updates,” Streams Charts said on Twitter.
Streams Chart explained that they do not usually include organizational channels in the list but opted to include AMLO’s because it is linked to him personally rather than a television network or institution.
AMLO beat numerous other popular streamers, including Colombian vlogger and rapper JuanSGuanizo and Mexican video game streamer El Mariana.
The president was the only streamer on the list to use YouTube instead of the popular live-streaming service Twitch. (Screen Image)
He was also the only personality to make YouTube’s Top 10 list of broadcasters. The others on the leaderboard used U.S. platform Twitch, which mostly live streams video games.
AMLO presents his mañaneras as a key tool for communicating directly with the public and letting his administration be held to account. However, hiscritics dismiss them as populist theatrics that reinforce the president’s dominance of the political conversation.
A frigate bird nestling looks on anxiously as it awaits breakfast. (Photos by Dianne Hofner Saphiere)
Isla Isabel is one of those places that grabs you deep in your soul, ensuring you will want to return. This little-known treasure of biodiversity referred to as the “Galapagos of Mexico” is three hours off the Pacific coast of San Blas, Nayarit.
Blue- and red-footed boobies, red-billed tropic birds, brown pelicans, frigate birds, swallows, marine turtles, false orcas, mantas and whale sharks — among many other species — call this national park home. If your active, outdoorsy family or group of friends is looking for a perfect rustic camping trip in which you can get up-close and personal with some incredible fauna and swim in crystal-clear waters, Isla Isabel is a dream.
A pair of blue-footed boobies. You can differentiate the genders by the pupils of their eyes: females have large ones, and males have pinpoint ones.
The volcanic island has a RAMSAR (internationally important wetland) designation and is a UNESCO World Heritage site that includes an incredible richness of ecosystems within its 194 hectares. A visit to Isla Isabel provides the options of world-class birding, swimming in lagoons or on a sandy beach, snorkeling amongst mangroves or along the coastline and climbing rocky cliffs or hiking numerous trails.
Even getting there is fun: on the boat ride between San Blas and Isla Isabel, you can swim with whale sharks as they feed in the currents; delight in the leaping dolphins and manta rays; or, in winter, witness migrating humpback whales breaching.
Because the fauna here has no natural enemies, they do not fear human visitors, allowing for both excellent viewing and photographing.
A visit to Isla Isabel is one of communing with nature in the way people used to do: thousands of birds flying and squawking, no cell service and no restaurants or hotels. It is a once-in-a-lifetime memorable experience.
Snorkeling in one of Isabel’s volcanic tide pools.
Most visitors camp under a large shelter. There are toilets that visitors flush with water from a bucket; your guide brings drinking water and food. Only 40 campers and 60 day-trippers are permitted to visit per day.
Begin your first morning with a hike up one of the hills, passing iguana and bird habitats to enjoy panoramic vistas of the verdant green island, its crater lake and lagoons. Then, in the afternoon, cool off with a refreshing swim in several volcanic tidepools while brightly colored tropical fish whirl around you.
Watch a memorable sunset from the beach or the lighthouse hill, and after dinner, settle into a hammock for some unbelievable stargazing with picturesque rock outcroppings, or birds nesting nearby. The following day, you could take a boat to snorkel around those offshore cliffs and hike up to the crater lake.
When to visit November through July is the best time; summers are hot and humid. February through April is nesting season for the boobies and frigate birds, so it’s my favorite time of year. Frigate nests fill the trees while boobies nest on the ground. Please give them a few meters of space; you’ll be close enough to see them clearly and take photos but distant enough not to upset the birds.
Be sure to pack You’ll want to pack comfortable hiking wear for your stay: quick-dry shirts, shorts and slacks, socks and hiking boots or tennis shoes. A sweatshirt can help with the ocean breeze in the evening. Be sure to bring your swimming suit, a towel, snorkel, mask and fins.
Isla Isabel is an ecotourism sanctuary, so please bring only reef-friendly sunscreen and ecofriendly insect repellent; it’s best to cover up and wear a hat and sunglasses so as not to damage the oceans around the island. Most people bring their own camping gear: tent, pad, sleeping bag and water bottle.
A shot of the Milky Way taken from shore. Thanks to no electricity on the island, Isabel’s night sky is jam-packed with stars.
If you’re a photographer, don’t forget your gear, and remember a waterproof camera. There is no electricity on the island, so be sure to charge everything you might want to use and bring extra batteries or a battery backup. All garbage that you generate should be removed from the island upon your return. No campfires are allowed in this protected area.
Also, you’ll lose cell signal after departing San Blas, so be sure to inform those you love that you’ll be out of touch for the length of your stay on Isla Isabel. Be sure to bring any medications you use, and if you tend to seasickness, bring Dramamine.
Reservations Each time I have gone, we’ve stayed two nights on the island and another night in San Blas for birdwatching. This gives us a better chance of cloud-free night-sky viewing on the island, plus more opportunities to swim and hike. I time our trips to coincide with the new moon for the best stargazing.
We travel in a group of eight to 15 people with Don Emilio Sartiaguin of Sartiaguin Tours. You can contact him via cell or WhatsApp at (311) 117-1123, or you can find his business on Facebook.
The cost per person for the boat, the captain and his helpers and all meals from breakfast on Friday to breakfast on Sunday (they were delicious!) was 4,000 pesos.
We pitched tents in our own private hut; I liked that we were at a distance from the other tour group that visits the island and stays in the main building. Don Emilio and crew are outstanding. They took us out on the boat whenever we asked so that we could snorkel among the nearby rock outcroppings, circumnavigate the island and see nearby indigenous ceremonial sites.
This is an incredible adventure that you will never forget, and which may well end up being repeated regularly!
Dianne Hofner Saphiere is a photographer and interculturalist who has lived in Mazatlán since 2008. Her photographs can be found under “Thru Di’s Eyes” on FB, IG or her website, www.thrudiseyes.com. She also runs the expat website www.vidamaz.com.
Three works by Claude Monet will be displayed at the National Museum of Art in an exhibit that opens Thursday. (MUNAL/Twitter)
Three paintings by world-famous French impressionist Claude Monet, as well as several works by Mexican painters influenced by the impressionists, are on display in the National Museum of Art (MUNAL) in Mexico City until August 27.
This is the first time that one of the famous “Water Lilies”, painted in 1908, as well as the earlier “Valle Buona” painting from 1884, have come to Mexico. Both works are part of the collection of the Dallas Museum of Art in the United States. Together with “Landscape in Port-Villez” (1883), from the Soumaya Museum collection in Mexico City, the three pieces make up the “Monet: Lights of Impressionism” exhibit at the MUNAL.
Aside from the works by Monet, MUNAL will also showcase works by prominent Mexican impressionists of the era. (MUNAL/Twitter)
The exhibit is complemented by works of great Mexican Impressionist masters from the MUNAL collection, such as Joaquín Clausell, Francisco Romano Guillemín, Armando García Núñez, Mateo Herrera and José María Velasco.
These Mexican artists portrayed the vegetation, mountains and volcanoes of Oaxaca, Campeche and the Valley of Mexico with impressionist techniques.
“It is an unprecedented exhibition in the history of the museum,” curator Héctor Palhares said, adding that impressionism “is the movement that attracts the most people, and the one that generates the greatest expectation as it continues to shape a core part of our contemporary culture.”
Impressionism is a technique in which artists try to capture movement and life as they experience it – an attempt to portray an “impression” of what they see.
Curator Héctor Palhares says that impressionist exhibitions always draw large crowds. (MUNAL/Twitter)
“For Monet, the subject of his paintings turned more and more towards the surface of water,” the team in charge of the painter’s collection at the Dallas Museum of Art explained to El País newspaper. “By 1910, he had transcended the conventional limits of easel painting and had begun creating immense decorations culminating in the series of water lilies commissioned by the French Government for two oval galleries in the Orangerie, Paris.”
The piece exhibited at MUNAL is the antecedent to the “Water Lilies” of the Museum of the Orangerie – the most iconic of the water lily paintings – an enclosure that is considered the sanctuary of Monet, Palhares explained.
The “Valle Buona” painting, which represents a colorful journey through a landscape on the Franco-Italian border, was painted by Monet during his first trip to the Mediterranean to paint.
Finally, “Landscape in Port-Villez”, from the Soumaya Museum collection, provides a captivating experience in which Monet captured the reflections of the water of the Seine as it passed through a town.
The “Monet: Lights of Impressionism” talk will be hosted by Héctor Palhares on May 3, at 4 p.m., on the museum’s grounds. “The legacy of light in the landscape of José María Velasco” talk is scheduled for May 31.
Spanish singer Rosalía, one of the best-selling artists in contemporary Latin music, will play Mexico City's Zócalo this Friday in a free concert. (Rosalia/Twitter)
Mexico City officials expect at least 200,000 people to attend a free concert by Spanish musical sensation Rosalía in the Zócalo, the city’s historic main square, on Friday.
The 12-time Latin Grammy winner, known for hits like “DESPECHÁ,” “Besos Moja2” and “BESO,” will appear on Friday April 28, the kickoff to a long May Day weekend. Admission to her concert will be free, thanks to the government of Mexico City, which will pay her appearance fee. The total cost to the city is unknown, although the booking agency Celebrity Talent International lists her US appearance fees as ranging between US $300,000 and $499,999.
(Rosalía/Twitter)
Mexico City Culture Minister Claudia Curiel de Icaza told the newspaper Infobae that the city expects over 200,000 attendees. Past musical acts have drawn upward of that number to the Zócalo: Justin Bieber and Shakira both attracted 210,000, while Mexican singer Vicente Fernández drew 217,000.
In September, the regional Mexican band Grupo Firme broke attendance records for concerts in the Zócalo, attracting 280,000 spectators, according to the Culture Ministry.
Rosalía, who is Catalán, has become an enormous success in Latin music since her 2017 debut thanks to her eclectic mix of traditional Spanish music, reggaeton and rap. She was ranked in Rolling Stone magazine’s Top 200 singers of all time earlier this year.
Regardless of the cost of hosting the concert, it is believed that the event will bring significant benefits to businesses in downtown Mexico City. Mexico’s Chamber of Commerce for Services and Tourism president José de Jesús Rodríguez Cárdenas has said that the group expects that as much as $1 billion pesos (upwards of US $55 million) may be spent as a result of Rosalía’s appearance.
The Zócalo has seen various free concerts over the years. Major concerts, such as the one given by Roger Waters in 2016, pictured above, have drawn over 200,000 spectators. (Wotancito/Wikimedia Commons)
Consumer spending is expected to be similar to that of major events such as Day of the Dead and the Mexican Formula 1 Grand Prix, Rodríguez added. The money will be spent across the hospitality industry, in hotels, shops and restaurants.
To handle the enormous crowds expected in the Zócalo, roads around the square will close early on Friday. Giant screens will be erected around the city’s historic center to help those unable to reach the main square enjoy the concert.
The business magazine Expansión reported that accommodations surrounding the square have been selling for as much as $3,500 pesos (US $194) per night. Hotels are fully booked, and some guests have told the outlet that their reservations were canceled without warning.
Expansion also predicted that the total number of concertgoers will exceed the 280,000 who packed in to see Mexican band Grupo Firme in September 2022.
Rosalía is not the only major draw in town this long weekend. An MLB baseball game between the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants will take place at the Alfredo Harp Helú stadium in the borough of Iztacalco. It is hoped that the big game will generate 1.8 billion pesos, in addition to the billion pesos generated by the free concert.
Entrada Group has over 20 years of experience supporting companies with the move to Mexico. (Courtesy)
Interested in expanding your company’s manufacturing operations to Mexico but not sure how to go about it? Read on.
In our first article in this nearshoring series we looked at a range of reasons why a growing number of foreign manufacturing companies are choosing to set up in Mexico or expand their existing Mexican operations.
Mexico is an attractive option for companies seeking to relocate manufacturing operations. (Courtesy)
Now we’ll consider four different operational models that companies seeking to establish a manufacturing presence in Mexico can choose from.
Each has its pros and cons, and each is best suited to specific company types and business objectives. The guide below can help you begin the process to select the right one for your company.
The Standalone Model
Under this model, your company establishes a wholly owned subsidiary in Mexico. BMW México and Honeywell México are two examples.
There are several options available for manufacturers looking to relocate to Mexico. (Courtesy)
According to U.S. based Entrada Group – a company with more than 20 years’ experience guiding international manufacturers in establishing and running their own operations in Mexico – the standalone route is best suited to major companies that require complete independence and control over all aspects of their business – not just production.
Significant investment is required and the model entails significant risk, according to John Paul McDaris, Entrada’s director of business development.
“Just getting started requires selecting and either leasing or buying a site, establishing a legal Mexico entity, securing permits and leases and adhering to Mexican tax obligations,” he says.
McDaris notes that companies that choose the standalone route need to be fully compliant with all federal, state and municipal regulations from day one, which requires them to hire a full support staff even before production begins.
“All of this demands a deep amount of local knowledge, attention to detail, time and capital. One clear disadvantage of the standalone option is time,” he says.
“It can take years for a major company to complete a site location, fully staff operations, and build a plant and select suppliers before the first car, light truck, airplane or widget rolls off the production line. For most smaller companies, the standalone model in Mexico is cost-prohibitive and, in most cases, overkill.”
The Contract Manufacturing Model
According to Entrada Group, this model could be a viable option for small-to-midsize firms not ready, willing or able to set up their own Mexican subsidiary.
Under the contract manufacturing model, your company contracts an existing Mexico-based manufacturer that has the capacity to make your products. Once a contract is signed, that manufacturer begins producing your products on your behalf.
“This model allows companies to start manufacturing in Mexico relatively quickly and cheaply,” McDaris says.
Entrada Group presents four options for manufacturers interested in nearshoring to Mexico. (Courtesy)
“The biggest time commitment occurs upfront in seeking and evaluating proposals from Mexican manufacturers, negotiating prices and drafting contracts and non-disclosure agreements. After that, manufacturing can begin almost immediately.”
However, finding a subcontractor is much more challenging in Mexico than it is in China, for instance. In Mexico, there is not a strong, established track record of international subcontracting.
Further, the contract manufacturing model also comes with risks, most notably the lack of control of production and the risk that your contract manufacturer will make off with your intellectual property. “For tier two and tier three manufacturers considering Mexico, contract manufacturing can be the least desirable method,” McDaris says.
The Joint Venture Model
Another way a foreign firm can establish a manufacturing presence in Mexico is by joining forces with a Mexican company.
In one potential joint venture (JV) scenario, your company partners with a Mexican business that contributes knowledge on things such as local laws and regulations.
The JV model allows a foreign company to share the risk with a Mexico-based partner and access important local knowledge and information, according to Entrada.
“JVs can be an attractive option for small companies that have limited capital and manpower, and prefer to reduce and share risks,” McDaris says.
However, the JV model comes with “ample room for disagreements over things such as marketing or management, and disagreements can become amplified due to cultural differences,” he warns.
Entrada Group has manufacturing campuses in Guanajuato and Zacatecas. (Courtesy)
McDaris also says it’s important for a foreign firm to know how it can terminate an agreement with a Mexican company if the partnership doesn’t work out.
“That part is crucial because you are fully dependent on your Mexico partner to navigate all the ‘Mexico complexities’ you are unfamiliar with,” he says.
“If they make mistakes in the process, whether through incompetence or negligence, you are equally liable alongside them in the eyes of Mexican authorities.”
The Shelter Model
A fourth way in which your company can establish a manufacturing presence in Mexico is by setting up operations in an established manufacturing community established and operated by a company known as a shelter provider.
Under the shelter model, “you maintain full control and responsibility of the actual manufacturing process, but the shelter provider handles all non-production-related responsibilities, and in some cases can provide all of your required Mexican corporate services” McDaris explains.
Shelter providers, known as such because they shelter companies from some of the risks and liabilities of offshore production, have operated in Mexico for decades.
“In essence, the shelter model provides the structure, facilities and services while you provide the machinery and production know-how,” McDaris says.
“You can build the operations to your specifications and scale general and administrative support services up or down according to your needs. With some shelter service providers, you can also increase or decrease your square footage or headcount, based on your fluctuating needs.”
Another advantage of the shelter model is that your company is not required to pay import taxes or duties if the finished goods it manufactures are exported out of Mexico.
According to Entrada, the shelter model is well suited to most small-to-midsized manufacturers, but choosing a shelter provider with a proven track record is important.
Shelter providers bear your risk, but if they don’t have the capacity to deliver the specific support services your company needs, and lack the flexibility and scalability for future growth, they may end up hindering your Mexico operations more than helping them.
There are a range of different shelter provider types, or “flavors”, some of which will be described in our next article in this series.
Entrada, which has manufacturing campuses in Guanajuato and Zacatecas, offers a comprehensive shelter solution that provides companies from North America and Europe with all the non-production related support they require and ensures they are – and remain – compliant will all local laws and regulations.
Entrada’s Manufacturing Support Platform, as the company’s shelter solution is called, will be the focus of our next article, to be published in the near future.
More information about each of the models outlined above is available in Entrada’s “Different Routes to Mexico Manufacturing” white paper, which can be downloaded here.
Viva Aerobus started flying out of AIFA in May 2022.(Viva Aerobus)
Viva Aerobus announced four new routes departing from the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) in Mexico City, as well as additional flights for existing routes.
Starting July 2, the carrier will take passengers from AIFA to Hermosillo, Sonora; Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo; and Mazatlán. For the summer season, the airline will open a new route to Puerto Vallarta on July 14.
Passengers in the Felipe Ángeles International Airport, which opened last March. (Moisés Pablo Nava/Cuartoscuro)
Viva Aerobus also increased the number of flights for existing routes out of the Mexico City airport, now offering four per week to the cities of Oaxaca and Acapulco.
During the summer, the airline announced it will also offer two daily flights to Tijuana and three daily departures to Cancún. The low-cost carrier will now operate a daily flight instead of the three weekly frequencies it currently runs to Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca.
“We’ve already added eleven routes from the new Mexico City Airport and soon we will operate more than 50 flights a week, thus strengthening the connectivity of the Mexico City metro area, in support of an important government infrastructure and mobility project,” said Viva Aerobus CEO Juan Carlos Zuazua.
He added that the carrier is seeking to open more non-stop flights with new aircraft, offer more convenient schedules, and provide customers with better prices.
The Felipe Ángeles airport is one of this administration’s major flagship infrastructure projects, which also include the controversial Maya Train and the Dos Bocas refinery.
Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris was the first airline to begin operating flights from AIFA, but Viva Aerobus followed soon after in May 2022.
The 18-minute video was filmed at the National Palace. The president dismissed recent speculations that he'd had a heart attack, saying instead that he'd had an episode of low blood pressure. (Presidencia)
Three days after announcing he had tested positive for COVID-19 for the third time, and as rumors about his health continued to swirl, President López Obrador declared in a video message on Wednesday that he was fine but acknowledged that he briefly fainted last Sunday.
“As president of Mexico I have the responsibility to inform you about my health,” he said in an 18-minute video filmed at the National Palace, the seat of executive power and the president’s residence.
“… As there has been speculation, it’s important to tell you that I’m fine. I have COVID,” López Obrador said in his message, which he directed to both his “friends and adversaries.”
The 69-year-old president, who suffered a heart attack a decade ago and has a range of medical problems, said his blood pressure suddenly dropped while he was at a meeting in Mérida on Sunday at which he was discussing the Maya Train railroad project with military engineers and other officials.
“It was like I fell asleep, it was a kind of giddiness, to speak colloquially,” he said.
López Obrador claimed he didn’t lose consciousness, but said immediately afterward that he had a “temporary blackout” due to the sudden drop in his blood pressure.
The president was on his third day in as many states when he had the low-blood pressure incident: on Thursday he was in Mexico City announcing the sale of the presidential plane, and on Friday, he visited Veracruz to mark the 109th anniversary of the Battle of Veracruz before heading to Yucatán. (Presidencia)
He said that doctors wanted to put him on a stretcher and take him to hospital in an ambulance. But López Obrador said he told them he wasn’t going anywhere and directed them to treat him on the spot.
He said doctors gave him a liter of rehydration fluids, and his blood pressure normalized.
“Nothing else was needed. There was no impact on my heart or brain. … I decided to come to Mexico City, they transferred me in an air ambulance, but not in a stretcher, I was conscious,” López Obrador said.
He noted that even though he posted to social media about his health — saying that his illness wasn’t serious and his heart was “100%” fine — there has been significant speculation about his condition, including claims on social media that he suffered a heart attack or stroke in the Yucatán capital.
“My adversaries have a lot of imagination,” López Obrador said, observing that “a lot of things have been said,” including that “I had a stroke” and that cardiologists and other specialist doctors were treating him at the National Palace.
“That’s not the case. Fortunately, I’m very well; I’m working, I already wrote two drafts … of two speeches,” he said, referring to addresses he will give on International Workers Day on May 1 and on May 5 to mark the 161st anniversary of the Battle of Puebla
On Monday, Interior Minister Adán Augusto López, who has been filling in for the president all week at the daily presidential press conferences, denied that President Lopez Obrador had fainted. (Galo Cañas Rodríguez/Cuartoscuro)
An article published in the Mérida-based newspaper Diario de Yucatán last Sunday said that López Obrador fainted 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.
Interior Minister Adán Augusto López Hernández rejected the report on Monday.
“There was no emergency transfer [from Mérida to Mexico City], there was no fainting episode,” he said.
The interior minister said Wednesday it was likely the president would resume his normal activities before the end of the working week.
López Hernández, who is aiming to become the ruling Morena party’s candidate at the 2024 presidential election, stood in for López Obrador at the government’s morning press conferences, or mañaneras, between Monday and Thursday.
It remains to be seen whether AMLO will return for the last presser of the week on Friday.
The Tramo 5 section of the Maya Train, seen here, is home to a delicate system of underwater channels. Activists are concerned that engineering works will destroy the local ecosystem and cause serious damage to the area. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)
The Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has recommended an investigation into the environmental impact caused by the construction of the Maya Train.
The CEC is the watchdog group established by the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, a NAFTA-era side treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada that was absorbed by the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in 2020. The Commission for Environmental Cooperation’s investigation seeks to assess the procedure by which the Mexican government evaluated the Maya Train’s environmental impact.
The train has been a target of protest for activists since work began, but the Mexican government says that it has complied with all relevant environmental legislation. (Greenpeace/Paola Chiomante)
The recommendation was given after Moce Yax Cuxtal, an environmental group from Quintana Roo, and other local campaigners submitted a petition to the CEC in 2022. Moce Yax Cuxtal claims that the construction of Section 5-south of the Maya Train breaches environmental requirements laid out in the USMCA.
The section runs through the municipalities of Solidaridad and Tulum, Quintana Roo, where there are significant areas of geological interest, including cenotes (underground caverns) and surface streams – including the Sac Actun-Dos Ojos underwater system, which forms an essential resource for the local ecosystem.
Failure to protect the ecosystem is a breach of the Mexican constitution, as well as a breach of water quality, land use and wildlife protection laws. Environmental campaigners in the southeast region have claimed that the infrastructure project will cause irreversible damage to one of the most fragile ecosystems in the country.
The assessment aims to provide “a factual record [that] will help the public to understand the procedure behind the impact study…and the measures implemented [by the Mexican government] to protect the environment,” the CEC said in a statement.
Section 5-south, in bright green, was moved further inland in 2022. (Photo credit: Causa Natura)
A full impact report will be prepared by the CEC if at least two members of the three-person council instruct it to do so. The panel is composed of one member from each of the three countries in the treaty.
Mexico claims that the project has met all legal requirements and has properly conducted an environmental impact study. It has denied breaching any legislation, saying that the relevant permits had been granted prior to the commencement of construction.
This setback is the latest in a string of problems for the controversial train. Earlier this month, a judge issued an injunction against the import of ballast for the railroad, after a cargo ship damaged a protected coral reef near Puerto Morelos.
When complete, the 1,460-kilometer (907-mile) Maya Train will have 18 stations and will run through the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo.
