Querétaro presents an opportunity for cargo handlers when Mexico City International Airport stops accepting cargo in July, say local politicians. (Miguel Vega Hernández/Wikimedia)
The international airports in Querétaro, Mérida, and Mexico City topped the charts as Mexico’s fastest-growing cargo terminals in the first two months of 2023.
Handling 12,300 tons of cargo and registering 15.9% growth compared to the same period in 2022, Querétaro International Airport had the fastest cargo handling growth in the country.
Mexico City International Airport (AICM), seen here in 2021, remains the airport with the highest tonnage, despite seeing less growth than Querétaro or Merida. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
In second place was Mérida International Airport, which registered a volume of 4,100 tons and an annual growth of 10.8%.
Rounding out the top three was Mexico City International Airport (AICM). While the airport handles more than half of the cargo shipments in Mexico (52.1%), its growth was below that of Querétaro and Mérida at 10.1% – with a total of 95,700 tons handled in January and February.
In fourth place was Monterrey airport, in Nuevo León, with a volume of 10,900 tons and an annual increase of 2.2%. Ranking at No. 5 is Tijuana, with 1.7% growth and handling 5,200 tons of cargo.
According to the newspaper El Economista, Querétaro’s growth confirms the airport as an alternative to Mexico City, which will stop receiving air cargo operations in July, according to a presidential decree issued in February. The Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) in Mexico City also started to handle cargo traffic in March.
Querétaro state’s Minister of Sustainable Development Marco Antonio del Prete Tercero has said that in the short term, Querétaro’s airport could handle between 10% to 15% of the cargo currently shipped to Mexico City.
Querétaro’s capacity, he said, draws from its eight cargo positions, an audited area, internal customs and 10,000 square meters of covered warehouses with refrigerated rooms.
Members of the National Guard were accused of attacking a civilian vehicle in Nuevo Laredo and killing two people on Sunday, including a pregnant girl. (@GN_MEXICO_)
A pregnant 15-year-old girl and a 54-year-old man died from injuries they sustained when presumed members of the National Guard (GN) opened fire on their vehicle without apparent reason in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, on Sunday.
The driver and two other passengers in the vehicle, an SUV with Texas license plates, were wounded, according to the Nuevo Laredo Human Rights Committee (CDHNL), a nongovernmental organization. The occupants of the vehicle were family members and friends who were reportedly traveling to a social event shortly after 9 a.m. Sunday.
Guardsmen stand watch over the scene of the shooting incident on Sunday. The red vehicle in the background is the vehicle that was fired upon. (Internet)
A GN artilleryman shot at the vehicle at least 86 times, CDHNL president Raymundo Ramos said in an interview.
Miriam Mariana “F.” who was eight months pregnant, died in hospital on Monday. Doctors reportedly performed a cesarean section but her baby was stillborn. Jesús Felipe “G,” who was shot in his hip and thigh, died at the scene of the attack.
An adolescent boy, a 24-year-old woman and the 24-year-old man who was driving the SUV were wounded and taken to hospital for treatment.
The seemingly unprovoked attack came less than two months after soldiers fired at a vehicle in Nuevo Laredo, in which a group of seven apparently unarmed men were traveling. Federal prosecutors last week formally charged four soldiers with murdering five of the men.
Luis Adán Rodríguez Santiago, the driver, told authorities that after he realized that the car was being fired upon, he swerved into another lane, lost control of the vehicle and collided with a highway barrier. (Screen capture)
According to a complaint filed by the CDHNL on Monday, the driver of the SUV that came under attack on Sunday noticed that a GN patrol vehicle was following him.
The driver, who was in a relationship with the pregnant teenager, said that the patrol vehicle suddenly opened fire on his vehicle. The man, identified as Luis Adán Rodríguez Santiago, said he swerved into the other lane on the highway before losing control of his vehicle and colliding with a lane barrier.
Rodríguez, who was shot in his back and reported to be in serious condition, said he attempted to reach his wounded girlfriend.
“I was moving toward her, she was bleeding and the [GN] troops shouted at me, ‘Don’t come any closer, asshole, we’re going to kill you!’” he said, according to the CDHNL complaint, which was addressed to President López Obrador, the federal ministers of the Interior and National Defense and the head of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH).
“They just looked at us, then I hugged [Miriam] and … the National Guard troops left,” Rodríguez said.
Another GN patrol car reached the scene minutes later and called for ambulances that transported the victims to hospital.
Nuevo Laredo’s Human Rights Commission head Raymundo Ramos, whose agency has filed a complaint against the National Guard on the civilians’ behalf, said that authorities must not “cover up” for or “protect” the guardsmen involved in the attack. (File photo by Moisés Pablo Nava/Cuartoscuro)
An official crime scene report largely matched the account of the shooting in the CDHNL complaint. The report said that 83 spent bullet casings were found on the Libramiento Vial Mex II highway where the SUV crashed into a barrier.
Verónica Treviño, the 24-year-old woman wounded in the attack, told investigators from her hospital bed that the National Guard “started to shoot at us without any apparent reason.”
Another passenger told investigators that the GN may have been chasing a truck full of gunmen who had fired at the patrol vehicle. The passenger said that their SUV may have accidentally bumped into the GN vehicle when it was passing, possibly leading members of the security force to believe that they were involved in the attack.
Ramos, the CDHNL’s president, called on authorities including the National Guard to not let the aggressors get away with the crime.
“The National Guard knows who the troops who attacked the family are,” he said.
Ramos said that authorities must not “cover up” for or “protect” the guardsmen involved in the attack.
Senator Ricardo Monreal, the head of the federal Congress’ armed forces oversight committee, said that it will be meeting on April 24 to review the armed forces’ performance in the sphere of public safety. (Government of Tamaulipas)
“They have to face justice,” he said, asserting that the hands of those responsible are “stained with blood.”
Ramos said that once GN personnel saw that there were no weapons or drugs in the SUV they quickly left the scene without providing any assistance to the victims. The pregnant teenager could have survived if she had received first aid promptly, he said.
In the CDHNL complaint, Ramos urged López Obrador to order an “exhaustive, urgent and transparent investigation” into the incident. The Federal Attorney General’s Office will likely investigate the case as it involves the National Guard, a federal security force that was recently placed under the control of the Ministry of National Defense.
Six of its members were arrested in 2020 in connection with the murder of a woman who was killed after attending a protest at the La Boquilla dam in Chihuahua.
Levin, an expat artist and architect, is making a name for himself in Oaxaca city with his gallery and café, Once in Oaxaca. (@Bucketlistbri/Instagram)
Jaime Levin is a 29-year-old expat artist and architect making a name for himself in Oaxaca city with his gallery and café, Once in Oaxaca. In this profile, Levin talks about why he swapped the Australian coast and an architecture career in Denmark for living the Mexican dream in Oaxaca.
From murals adorning stone walls of several city hotspots, to hand-drawn city maps in bustling cafes and restaurants, Levin’s work is never far from the view of keen-eyed tourists and residents of the city.
Jaime Levin at work in his studio at the café/gallery he owns in Oaxaca city. (@Bucketlistbri/Instagram)
In March, he celebrated one year since opening his own gallery, and he has exciting plans for expansion across Mexico.
On the table at his café where we meet to chat, there are two elegant carrot cupcakes from chef Miri Cole and an espresso from local coffee roasting company Nómada. Next to the coffee machine, I can see Levin’s famous city maps, his illustrated children’s book and custom-designed mezcal bottles.
We’re in Barrio de Jalatlaco — the second oldest, and arguably, the most trendy neighborhood in the city.
“When I first arrived in Oaxaca in 2019, I was delivering sandwiches for a coffee shop and had a rough plan to stay and learn Spanish. Then I discovered the architecture here, and it blew me away. The buildings, streets, ceramics, everything … I spent my free time drawing the city in my sketchbook,” Levin explains.
Levin got his start in Oaxaca by drawing the buildings he saw in the city as he worked delivering sandwiches. (onceinoaxaca.mx)
“I was meeting lots of different local people on my delivery runs and started speaking to them in broken Spanish about my drawings. I found the people of Oaxaca were really taken by my drawings of buildings they grew up with. I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but I felt there was a connection there.”
Running his own gallery and creating his artistic brand, which has garnered thousands of followers on Instagram, wasn’t a formal plan. It started when Levin decided to turn his sketches into postcards.
He stands up from our table to dash inside to bring me his first collection of pocket-sized drawings.
“I showed cafés these drawings of their buildings, and they were very happy to put them for sale next to the bread and pastries.”
Six months later, the onset of the pandemic caused Levin’s life — like most of ours — to take unexpected turns. With cafés and restaurants closing, the demand for his drawings fell and he needed to adapt quickly.
“For several long evenings, I talked for hours with friends who owned cafés — which were forced to close — about what we could do to keep their businesses alive,” he said. “The conversations all seemed to point to one avenue — growing a social media presence.”
Levin’s hand-drawn maps can be found in cafés and restaurants around Oaxaca city.
This marked a turning point in Levin’s career in Mexico. Under the name “Once in Oaxaca,” he began uploading his illustrations on Instagram, growing a loyal following of local people, businesses and tourists. At the same time, he started an Etsy shop and began selling his art and accepting commissions for larger works.
“It was a crazy time, but it helped me realize [that] opening my own physical gallery had to be the project’s next step.”
During the summer of 2021, he found the ideal location for his first gallery.
“This space was a blank canvas. It was the first time I could design a commercial space in Oaxaca, and my architectural mind was going wild! I designed every detail in there, from the chairs [and] tables to individual shelves and wall hangings,” he said. “I loved meeting people who could help me realize the vision, and this really showed me the huge potential in collaborating with other creatives here.”
Almost an hour into our conversation, as he begins to tell me about his favorite collaboration — a children’s book illustrated and launched with speech therapist, Viri Pacheco to help young children overcome speech impediments — we’re interrupted by two friendly faces who congratulate Levin on his one-year anniversary.
A steady flow of locals and tourists have been arriving since the café opened an hour ago at 8 a.m. The place won’t close its doors for another 12 hours — a routine Levin keeps seven days per week, all year round.
“It’s hard work, but I love the process of growing, and my team is fantastic. I need to give my time to give it the best chance of success,” he said.
“I don’t think the project would have been possible in Australia or in Denmark,” Levin says of his growing artistic career. “I feel so much more free to work creatively here.”
Following the rapid growth of Once in Oaxaca, Levin opened his second creative space — Micha — six months later in October 2022 with his girlfriend Ingrid Flores, a designer who is working on clothing and furniture design. He says that he hopes to expand nationally, into Mexico City and Mérida.
I ask what drives his obsessive work ethic and what motivates him.
“I’m not from here, but when Oaxacan people come by who know the buildings I’ve drawn and tell me they love the way I’ve captured it, in a way a photo can’t … to me, that’s the coolest thing ever,” he said.
“I don’t think the project would have been possible in Australia or in Denmark,” he added. “I feel so much more free to work creatively here, and the support and guidance has been fantastic.
“I feel like anything is possible!”
Once in Oaxaca is located at Curtidurias 121C, Barrio de Jalatlaco, 68080 Oaxaca de Juarez.
Gordon Cole-Schmidt is a public relations specialist and freelance journalist, advising and writing on companies and issues across multi-national communication programs.
President López Obrador has accused the United States government of “abusive interference” and espionage after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) revealed that it had infiltrated the Sinaloa Cartel.
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Friday that it had unsealed charges against 28 high-ranking Sinaloa Cartel members, including three known as “Los Chapitos” – the children of former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
At an April 14 press conference, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram revealed that the department had infiltrated the Sinaloa Cartel and the Chapitos network without the authorization of Mexican authorities. (DEA/Facebook)
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram told a press conference that the DEA “proactively infiltrated the Sinaloa Cartel and the Chapitos network” over the past year and a half. The law enforcement agency “obtained unprecedented access to the organization’s highest levels, and followed them across the world,” she said.
Milgram also said that the Chapitos, one of whom is the recently-detained Ovidio Guzmán, “pioneered the manufacture and trafficking of fentanyl, … flooded it into the United States for the past eight years and killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.”
López Obrador said Monday that the DEA carried out its infiltration operation in Mexico without the authorization of federal authorities. He pledged to raise the issue with the United States.
“There can’t be foreign agents in our country, no. We can share information, but those who can intervene [in Mexico] are elements of the Mexican Army, the Navy, the National Guard and the federal Attorney General’s Office,” he said.
Last year, the Mexican government shut down operations of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), the elite DEA team that had operated in the country since 1997. (lopezobrador.org.mx).
López Obrador said that the DEA’s infiltration of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico amounted to “arrogant” and “abusive interference” that “mustn’t be accepted under any circumstances.”
“How can they be spying! … Acts of espionage cannot be used,” he said.
“It’s not the same time as before. I’ve already said it here — during the government of Felipe Calderón … [the United States] brought everything but the kitchen sink into the country; they were allowed [to]. They had an overly intense relationship with the Ministry of the Navy, and the time came when it wasn’t cooperation but rather subordination of the …navy to the United States agencies,” López Obrador said.
He said that the United States Department of State and Department of Justice need to “put things in order” because “everything is very loose.”
Ex-DEA boss Nicholas Palmeri was fired in 2022 for improper conduct while leading operations in Mexico. (Photo: DEA).
The president questioned how the U.S. government could “blindly trust” DEA agents when “it is proven that many of them — or some, so as not to exaggerate — maintain, or maintained, links with organized crime.”
López Obrador specifically cited the case of the DEA’s former top official in Mexico, Nicholas Palmeri, who was ousted last year due to improper contact with lawyers for drug traffickers.
He also spoke about U.S. government links to Genaro García Luna, Mexico’s former federal security minister under former President Felipe Calderón. García Luna was convicted in New York on drug trafficking charges in February.
López Obrador’s condemnation of the U.S. government’s “interference” in Mexico comes just days after high-ranking officials from the two countries met in Washington D.C. to discuss bilateral security cooperation, especially joint efforts to combat the trafficking of synthetic drugs and firearms.
Among the topics discussed at a recent security meeting in Washington D.C. was fentanyl trafficking from Mexico to the United States. (Marcelo Ebrard/Twitter)
The president said that the DEA’s unauthorized infiltration operation in Mexico would not affect the ongoing security cooperation, but he rebuked the U.S. government for perpetuating its “bad habits” of the past.
He said last month that the U.S. government thinks it is “the government of the world,” but he has avoided making any direct criticism of President Joe Biden.
The fire at a provisional detention center left 40 migrants dead (Juan Ortega Solís/Cuartoscuro).
The head of the National Immigration Institute (INM) in Chihuahua has been formally accused of homicide three weeks after a fatal fire in a migrant detention center in Ciudad Juárez.
Salvador González Guerrero, a former rear admiral in the Mexican Navy, was arrested in Ciudad Juárez on Sunday, accused of homicide, causing injury and illicit exercise of public service at a court hearing on Monday morning.
INM Chihuahua Commissioner Salvador González Guerrero, second from right, at an event in December to collect clothes and blankets for migrants in Asuncion, Chihuahua. (INM)
The March 27 fire claimed the lives of 40 Central American and South American male migrants and injured 25 others.
The Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) said last Tuesday that González and three other INM officials were “directly linked to conduct that caused homicides and injuries” to the detained migrants. All four have now been arrested.
González was taken into custody despite having obtained an injunction against his arrest. The court order was, however, unable to prevent his arrest as it didn’t preclude detention on charges of homicide, for which mandatory preventive prison applies in Mexico.
The official said in court on Monday that he wasn’t shown an arrest warrant and wasn’t informed of his rights when he was arrested in a Ciudad Juárez restaurant on Sunday afternoon.
The incident sparked protests all over the country and calls for accountability on the part of INM officials. (Juan Ortega Solis/Cuartoscuro)
According to lawyers representing victims of the deadly blaze, González gave an order for the migrants to be left in locked cells at the Ciudad Juárez detention center despite the outbreak of a fire.
A video posted to social media showed that the migrants were left in the cells as the fire burned and the area filled with smoke. A security guard and an INM agent appeared to evacuate the building without unlocking the door to the section where the migrants were detained.
Three INM agents and a security guard were arrested late last month, as was a Venezuelan man who allegedly started the fire by setting mattresses alight when he and other migrants were informed that they were going to be deported or moved to another immigration facility.
National Migration Institute (INM) national director Francisco Garduño, in foreground, is scheduled to appear in court later this week, but he still remains INM’s chief for now. (@fgymexico/Twitter)
The FGR announced last week that it has also started criminal proceedings against INM director Francisco Garduño and the agency’s director of immigration control and verification, Antonio Molina Díaz.
They are accused of “failing to fulfill their duty to supervise, protect and provide security to the people and facilities” under their control, the FGR said in a statement.
Both have been summoned to appear in court later this week. Garduño remains INM chief despite the prospect that he will stand trial in connection with last month’s fire, one of the deadliest incidents involving migrants in Mexico in recent decades.
Constellation Brands' brewery facility in Nava, Coahuila, which was purchased from Grupo Modelo in 2013. (@cbrands/Twitter)
Constellation Brands, a U.S. brewery and distillery conglomerate, has announced it will invest approximately US $1.2 billion in its Mexico facilities during the company’s 2024 fiscal year, which began in March.
Constellation is the rights holder for Grupo Modelo brands in the U.S., including Corona, Modelo Especial and Modelo Negra. The figure announced represents more than 70% of its annual investment budget, demonstrating the demand for Mexican beer brands in the United States.
Constellation has successfully recouped some of the investment from their canceled Mexicali project and moved equipment to other sites across the country. (Victor Medina/Cuartoscuro)
As a result, Constellation is looking to reduce losses, and has moved much of the Baja California equipment to other production sites across Mexico, including Ciudad Obregón, Sonora. They are considering additional sites for a planned fourth brewery.
“We have been able to accelerate the [capacity] increase to 5 million hectoliters (equivalent to 100 liters) in Obregón for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2024, thanks to the relocation of the brewery and the packaging equipment that we had previously planned for use in Mexicali,” CFO Garth Hankinson told analysts at Forbes.
Hankinson also said that total output at the end of the 2023 fiscal year was 42 million hectoliters, predominantly brewed in their Nava facility located in the border state of Coahuila.
The partially finished brewery in Mexicali. (Photo: Archive)
According to SEC filings, Constellation expects their Mexican breweries to comfortably meet consumer needs in the United States.
“The design and construction process for the Veracruz Brewery is underway. Additionally, we continue to work with government officials in Mexico in connection with our canceled Mexicali Brewery construction project following a negative result from a public consultation held in Mexico. The remaining Mexicali Brewery net assets have met held for sale criteria as of November 30, 2022,” the filing states.
The new Veracruz brewery will be the major beneficiary of the investment. Constellation has identified that the region has sufficient water supplies and skilled labor in order to support operations.
The brewery intends to maintain high levels of investment in Mexico for the next two fiscal years, with a total spend of up to US $4.5 billion, despite a 2% dip in sales over the previous fiscal year.
Kerry and Frank O'Brien, seen here, are both missing aboard the "Ocean Bound". (@USCGNorCal/Twitter)
The Mexican Navy and the United States Coast Guard are searching for three U.S. citizens who have been missing since they left Mazatlán, Sinaloa, on a sailing vessel almost two weeks ago.
Kerry O’Brien, Frank O’Brien and William Gross left Mazatlán on a 44-foot Lafitte sailboat named Ocean Bound on April 4, according to a statement issued by the United States Coast Guard on Friday.
The Ocean Bound and its crew have not been seen since setting off from Mazatlán on Apr. 4. (USCGNorCal/Twitter)
The Lafitte 44, a model built between 1978 and 1989, has a reputation among sailing enthusiasts for sturdiness; several have been used in circumnavigation journeys.
The missing group’s final intended destination was San Diego, California, but they planned to stop in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, on April 6 to pick up provisions and to report in, the Coast Guard said.
However, there is no record of the trio arriving in Cabo San Lucas — located more than 300 km west of Mazatlán across the southern extremity of the Gulf of California — and they have yet to provide any report of their location.
Mexico’s navy told the Associated Press on Sunday that two patrol vessels, two surveillance boats and a plane were searching for the three Americans, who have almost 100 years of experience between them, Gross’ daughter Melissa Spicuzza told NBC news.
The sailboat departed from Mazatlán for a stop in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur. (Tripadvisor)
Kerry and Frank O’Brien, a married couple, invited Gross to join them on their voyage, she said.
The Coast Guard said it was assisting Mexico’s navy in its search, and noted that “search and rescue coordinators have contacted marinas throughout Baja, Mexico, with negative sightings of the vessel.”
“Urgent marine information broadcasts have been issued over VHF radio, requesting all mariners to keep a lookout for the missing persons and vessel,” it added.
Commander Greg Higgins, a search mission coordinator for the Coast Guard, told CNN that weather conditions were not ideal when the sailors set off from Mazatlán.
“When they began their voyage, we know that the conditions were not optimal for that type of trip, though, certainly, there were sailing vessels out there during that time,” he said in an interview on Saturday.
“[There were] winds potentially over 30 knots and seas [of] 15 to 20 — maybe more — feet at the time of their voyage,” Higgins said.
With “the permission of Mexico,” the Coast Guard has deployed aircraft and vessels to search for the sailors, he said.
Higgins also said that the Coast Guard was using computer search tools to try to identify the location of the vessel based on environmental conditions, winds and currents.
“[We’re looking at] where it may have drifted if they became distressed,” he said.
The families’ statement said that “Bill has over 50 years of sailing experience and is an extremely talented coastal cruiser,” while Kerry and Frank have sailed together for 20 years and “both hold captain’s licenses with the U.S. Coast Guard.”
Ocean Bound was described as a “sturdy older vessel” in the statement, which also said that “the sailing community has hundreds of additional vessels looking for our family members.”
Spicuzza said that the last time she heard from her father was on the morning he and the O’Briens left Mazatlán.
“Hopefully, somebody sees them and gets them to make contact or relay some messages,” she said.
“… I’m just wanting my dad and the O’Briens to roll back in and be like, ‘What’s the big deal guys?’” she said.
Think you can't find Indian food ingredients in Mexico? Think again: these jars of ghee were spotted on a Mexican supermarket shelf.
The simple answer is that it’s pure butter fat, which is why it tastes soooo good. (Whether it’s good FOR you is another story that we’ll get to in a minute.)
Ghee is butter with the milk solids removed (i.e., a lactose-free fat). By simmering butter at a low temperature, the milk solids sink to the bottom of the pan, the water evaporates, and you’re left with clarified butter. (Read a history of Indian ghee-making here.)
That leaves the most delicious part: the fat, which is, unfortunately, about 50% saturated — the most unhealthy kind if you’re concerned about LDL cholesterol or heart disease.
Let me say that I don’t like to be afraid of food and never have been. (Except some organ meats, but that’s a different kind of fear!) A recent situation with my heart health, though, has made me not exactly afraid of food but more aware of what I’m eating. So ghee is on my no-no list (or at least a not-very-often list) right now.
On the other hand, those on lactose-free diets will find ghee just what the doctor ordered. A host of celebrities have embraced it as a wonder food, and it’s been used in India for thousands of years.
In short, there’s no easy answer as to whether ghee is a healthy fat or not. So do the research and decide what makes sense to you.
Ghee’s nutty aroma and flavor, golden color, high smoke point and ancient history make it a winner in the kitchen.
I’ve cooked (and eaten) a lot of Indian food, so ghee isn’t an unknown to me. It’s luxurious in flavor, mouthfeel and aroma, and besides being an essential in Indian cooking, it’s a traditional part of worship and ritual in that culture.
In the West, at about the same time as interest in Ayurvedic medicine grew, “lactose-free” diets did too, creating a perfect storm for ghee to rise to the top (hah) of the newest trendy healthy foods. Even here in Mexico you can find jars of this “liquid gold” in the big-box supermarkets.
Ghee is easy to make (recipe below), lasts a long time, and a little goes a long way. Store-bought ghee is pricey, but again, you’ll only be using a spoonful or two in most recipes.
One caveat: Mexican regulations allow butter to contain a certain amount of vegetable oil and not be labeled as such; I recommend using imported butter (like Président from France or the Danish brand Lurpak) or organic butter if you can.
Ghee’s high smoke point makes it perfect for deep-frying or sauteing basically anything you would regularly use oil for — think potatoes, shrimp, chicken, scrambled eggs. Its delightful nutty flavor is great drizzled on naan or chapatis (or warm corn or flour tortillas!), popcorn, rice or grilled veggies. If you’re looking to jazz up some old standards, a little bit of ghee might be just the thing.
Ghee
1 lb. (or more) unsalted butter, organic if possible
Cut butter into chucks and place in heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat. Allow to melt without stirring. Once the butter melts and the milk solids begin to cook, it will start to sputter and a white foam will slowly rise to the surface, usually in 5–8 minutes.
Using a large spoon, carefully scoop the foam off the surface (without touching the base of the pan) and discard. Once you have scooped pretty much all the foam off the melted butter, you should see an almost clear liquid with golden browned milk solids settled at the bottom of the pan.
About 30 seconds after this stage, you will again see very faint foam forming on the ghee’s surface. It will be less dense than the previous foam — more like a thin cloud of small, clear bubbles covering the surface of the ghee. When you see this second foam form, it’s time to turn the heat off. Take ghee off the heat, and let it sit for 10 minutes.
Place a fine mesh sieve layered with cheesecloth or a paper coffee filter over a clean, dry mason jar. Pour the ghee through the sieve. Let ghee cool completely before putting the lid on the jar. Store in a dry place at room temperature or refrigerate. (Remember that ghee will solidify in cooler temps without affecting the flavor.)
The classic Indian spinach dish Saag Paneer uses a little bit of ghee for a big effect.
Saag Paneer / Saag Tofu
1 lb. (about 8 packed cups) fresh baby spinach* *If using chopped frozen spinach, squeeze out excess liquid and drain well
2 Tbsp. ghee
8 oz. paneer or firm tofu, cut into 1-by-½-inch pieces
½ cup minced onion
Salt and pepper
1 Tbsp. grated peeled ginger
2 tsp. grated garlic (about 3 cloves)
1 serrano chile, minced
½ tsp. ground coriander powder
¼ tsp. ground cumin
½ cup heavy cream
In a food processor, working in batches, pulse spinach until minced but not puréed. You should have about 3 packed cups of minced spinach.
Heat 1 Tbsp. ghee over medium in a large nonstick skillet. Add paneer and cook, turning occasionally, until golden all over, 5–7 minutes.
Using tongs, carefully transfer cheese to a plate, leaving as much ghee as possible in the skillet. If using tofu, dry thoroughly with paper towels, cut into cubes and cook in ghee as above.
Reduce heat to medium-low, add remaining 1 Tbsp. ghee and the onion; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.
Add ginger, garlic and chile, and cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Stir in coriander and cumin. Add spinach and ½ cup water; increase heat to medium. Season with salt and pepper again and cook, stirring occasionally, until spinach is completely soft and most liquid is absorbed, about 8 minutes.
Stir in heavy cream and paneer/tofu. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve immediately over Basmati rice.
The Extended Vacation Immigrant, the Rule-Loving Immigrant and the Shady Immigrant: just three of the archetypes of expat that the writer says can be found in Mexico. (Illustration: Angy Márquez)
Y’all ever run into a fellow paisano in Mexico and realize you have nothing in common with them? As more and more newcomers move to my area, it’s been happening to me personally more often.
One thing that immigrants throughout the world learn fairly quickly is this: just because you happen to speak the same language as someone doesn’t mean you’ll get along with them. Though members of the host country tend to think of same-language immigrants as a rather homogeneous group, there’s quite a lot of variety.
With these differences in mind, and with the disclaimer that this is “for entertainment purposes only” — meant to be humorous and not taken too seriously — I present to you: the types of fellow immigrants you’ll find in Mexico!
Extended Vacation Immigrants
While these types can be fun, they can be hard to keep up with. They like to be surrounded by other partiers and tend to prefer the presence of alcohol, sex and/or possibly drugs in most of their interactions.
Don’t get me wrong; many of us like these things and simply don’t have the luxury of excess time and money to make their procurement our main priority. Extended Vacationers tend to be concentrated in “party towns” near the beach and typically have little patience for communities where they might be expected to blend in and “live like the locals.” Spanish-learning tends to be limited to asking for/ordering things and flirting.
In-It-for-The-Fight Immigrants
If you make the mistake of saying you’re “from America” around these types, they’ll likely remind you — loudly and not all that kindly — that “we’re all Americans.” Their arguments usually stem from a desire to express loyalty to Mexico, or at least differentiate themselves from the expats that they consider are giving people from their country a bad name.
You can often find them fighting with others in expat Facebook groups about precisely how they (and others) should be behaving or thinking while in Mexico. They know everything, including “what Mexicans are really like.” Any disagreement with them is taken as a grave insult.
They may refuse to speak your shared native language with you in public.
There’s-No-Place-Like-Home Immigrants
Another breed often found in communities with a concentration of other immigrants, they mostly like where they’re from and would like to recreate its image in the new place as closely as possible, but with palm trees and cheaper goods and services.
Their Spanish skills are typically limited, and they spend more time than others trying to find the same types of things they’d find in their home countries.
An inability to do so is sometimes taken as a sign of their host country’s inferiority, and they’ll easily grow exasperated when things that seem familiar at first (like stays in a private hospital) are shown to have an unexpected twist (being expected to pay in full before leaving said hospital).
While they’re charmed by lower prices and friendly locals, they have little patience for their expectations regarding “how things should be done around here” not being met.
Unintentional Immigrants
Sadly, this is a group that wouldn’t have necessarily chosen to move to Mexico had their circumstances been different. From the north, many are overwhelmingly female spouses (and often children) of Mexican nationals who’ve been deported from the U.S. They’re usually here because they’re trying to keep the family together.
They try hard to make the best of it but often have trouble adjusting both to the language and the culture — especially if they’ve wound up in the tiny, poverty-stricken community their spouse’s family is from.
Most small towns (in the world, of course — not just in Mexico) are not known for their cosmopolitan attitudes of openness, and the trauma of a sudden move paired with the financial trauma of lost work opportunities that can follow are a shock to everyone’s systems.
Free-to-Be-Me Immigrants
This group tends to be concentrated with people who, for whatever reason, don’t feel accepted, understood or unrestricted enough in their own countries. They might be here to start a commune, experiment with “free-range childhood,” or because they’re excited about the freedom to explore alternative medicine from “authentic” sources.
They tend to have somewhat fringe beliefs and practices that might not be accepted by most in their host country. For this group, the fact that Mexico’s not great at enforcing rules having to do with everyday regulation (like the one that says all children must be enrolled in school) is a major plus, and they praise the country for “giving them” the freedom they feel they don’t have where they’re from.
Blender-Inner Immigrants
While these folks are clearly from somewhere else, where that “somewhere else” is located is not immediately obvious. They tend to live like the locals in their respective communities and speak Spanish fairly well, making friends with the kinds of Mexicans who haven’t gone out of their way to seek out the newly arrived.
Giveaways for their immigrant status tend to mostly be limited to their accents or the fact that they’re güeros walking rather than driving around the city. While, like most, they tend to mutter “freaking Mexico, man” under their breath occasionally, they’ve mostly accepted the realities of their new homes.
Rule-Loving Immigrants
Well-intentioned above all else (and perhaps to their detriment), these are the types who show up to the SAT on their second day in Mexico in order to pleasantly ask how they can initiate the payment of their Mexican taxes.
They highly prioritize transparency and rule-following and tend to be seen by the locals as unnecessarily and naïvely looking for trouble — or at least to be taken advantage of. This group also has a clear counterpart:
Shady Immigrants
These are the ones who have questionable backstories and tend not to reveal too much about what they’re doing here or why they came. Questions are often met with winks and sly smiles rather than explanations. I’d tell you more, but then I’d have to disappear.
So there you have it, folks! Again, allow me to reiterate that this list is meant to be funny and not taken too seriously. If you’ve got a chance, let me know where you think you fall, or if I’ve missed any major ones!
While some emails might slip through the cracks because I open them right when my kid starts clamoring for my attention, I try hard to acknowledge all of them.
Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sarahedevries.substack.com
Mexico City's Itzapalapa, the site of Mexico's oldest example of the country's Holy Week passion play traditions, attracts millions of viewers each year and widespread participation from the borough's residents. (Galo Caños Rodríguez/Cuartoscuro)
The borough of Iztapalapa may not have one of the best reputations in Mexico City, but it is also home to one of Mexico’s most important annual events — its Passion Play.
It is not the only passion play in Mexico by any means, but it is the oldest, most elaborate and best-known, celebrating its 180th edition this year.
Holy Week celebrations in Iztapalapa begin with Palm Sunday celebrations. Borough historian Beatriz Ramírez González says the tradition has continued uninterrupted since 1843. (Andrea Murcia Monsivais/Cuartoscuro)
Like many passion plays around the world, it is linked to a historical event. A cholera epidemic raged here in the 1830s, when the area was then fields and small villages. The epidemic’s passing in 1843 was seen as a miracle, and the indigenous farmers gave thanks at first through a pilgrimage to the locally-important shrine of the Lord of the Cave (Señor de la Cuevita) near Easter.
The thanksgiving was repeated each year, with a reenactment of the crucifixion added.
This led the event to being fixed to Holy Week. It has grown in size and complexity ever since.
Borough historian Beatriz Ramírez González says that it has continued uninterrupted since 1843, although there is an assertion that it was suspended during the Mexican Revolution and revived by Emiliano Zapata himself.
A Iztapalapa resident portraying a Roman soldier during the Stations of the Cross procession has a private moment with a compatriot. Each year, the event is a major expression of both piety and community. (Octavio Murillo)
Over the years, the play has survived religious objections on how it was performed, government repression of religious display and, most recently, Covid-19. It was scaled back in 2021 and 2022, but not canceled, and returned in full this year.
The play is important both as a religious event and an expression of Iztapalapa identity, says Ramírez. Its traditions are strongly tied to the eight villages (pueblos) that existed before the borough got overrun by Mexico City’s urban sprawl in the 20th century.
Residents of the pueblos still run the event, and despite pressure, participation is still limited to them. Preserving this is important to the borough, and to this end they have had the play registered as part of the intangible culture of Mexico City (2012) and the country (2023). It is now working with UNESCO for international recognition.
Reenactments of biblical scenes of Jesus’ life just before the Crucifixion are portrayed in order throughout Holy Week, including the Last Supper. (Andrea Murcia Monsivais/Cuartoscuro)
The most important events come later in the week, starting with the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday — the Thursday before Easter and a reenactment of Jesus’ Last Supper — and the most important: the crucifixion on Good Friday.
On this day, the actor playing Jesus must carry a 90-kilogram wood cross for 2 km through the pueblos to Cerro de la Estrella, which fills in for Mount Calvary.
Nothing about these scenes is done simply. The play involves over 5,000 people, with 150 having speaking roles. Sets, costumes, props and more are all locally made. Certain elements are made each year by the same family, such as the crown of thorns done by the Reyes family.
Iztapalapa residents David Uriel González and Paulina García beat 100 hopeful for the roles of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Tradition dictates that they not smoke, drink, date or party once chosen until after their duties are complete. (Graciela López Herrera/Cuartoscuro)
Many of the costs are borne by the participants and other residents of the pueblos, including sets, costumes and refreshments along procession routes.
Being cast in a role has both religious and prestigious aspects. The two most sought-after roles are those depicting Jesus and Mary. This year, the first role was taken on by David Uriel González and the other by Paulina Garcia, who were chosen from among 100 hopefuls.
These two are also the most demanding roles. Tradition dictates that neither could date, drink, smoke or go to parties after selection until the end of their duties. They also had to prove they had the financial means to perform the roles — and in the case of the young man, the physical stamina to withstand beatings and the carrying of the cross, with specific training starting six months in advance.
Every aspect of the week long pageantry is a role awarded with careful deliberation and taking into account tradition: Jesus’ crown of thorns is made by the same family every year. Maker Marco Antonio Reyes Agonizante inherited the job from his father. (Graciela López Herrera/Cuartoscuro)
The uniqueness of Iztapalapa’s play comes from the fact that it contains elements from outside the Bible — from local traditions and other Christian and secular writing like Dante’s Divine Comedy.
The pilgrimage to the Lord of the Cave is still performed on Maundy Thursday. Judas Iscariot is performed as a menacing figure to the crowds who insult him as he flings fake coins at them, until he commits suicide next to Jesus’ cross. Unique characters include the “Wandering Jew,” King Herod’s harem, a spy and a dog that accompanies Judas Iscariot.
Local indigenous elements include the use of Mesoamerican drums and flutes and, perhaps most importantly, Cerro de la Estrella, which was home to the highly important Mesoamerican New Fire rite.
The annual event is such a big deal in Mexico City that Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum held a press conference on March 28 to give details about it beforehand, flanked by David Uriel González dressed in his costume as Jesus and other participants. (Government of Mexico City)
This passion play is a major tourist attraction for the borough, but it is with a heavy heart that I don’t recommend seeing it live, and it has nothing to do with the borough’s reputation for crime.
I learned long ago, that no matter how problematic the neighborhood, locals do not put up with violence during their major religious celebrations.
Like the Super Bowl, unless you have a special invitation, you will see little to nothing, as part of the 2 million or so people who line the streets and plaza to try and get a glimpse of the proceedings. Even though there are loudspeakers and giant screens, you are likely to get lost in a sea of homemade cardboard periscopes as you stand in the blazing sun, as was my experience.
Getting this close to the proceedings is sadly unlikely, as you are competing with hundreds of thousands if not millions of spectators. You’ll get a better view watching it on television or on YouTube, where a recording of the events is already online. (Octavio Murillo)
You are best off watching video of it on television, internet or social media, especially if you are not particularly religious.
Fortunately, the event is covered by just about all Mexico’s major networks, who post not only their reports about the play online but also the play in its entirety. Excelsior TV already has their 2023 recording up on YouTube.
Ramírez has no doubt that the play will continue long into the future. The play, even though it is from the 19th century, remains important in the 21st, she says, “…to prove that we are a people strong in this aspect to Mexico City, Mexico and the world.”
“It is a question of pride,” she says.
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.
