Marcelo Ebrard came in as the runner-up to Claudia Sheinbaum in Morena's polling to select a presidential candidate for 2024. (DANIEL AUGUSTO /CUARTOSCURO.COM)
Former foreign affairs minister Marcelo Ebrard has formally denounced alleged irregularities in the presidential candidate selection process used by the ruling Morena party and indicated that he will leave the party if his concerns aren’t addressed.
Morena, which was founded by President López Obrador with the assistance of Ebrard and others, announced last Wednesday that former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum won the polling process to determine the party’s candidate for the June 2, 2024 presidential election.
Marcelo Ebrard at a press conference where he called on his party, Morena, to repeat the polling process ahead of the announcement of results. (Cuartoscuro)
Ebrard, who finished second in a field of six aspirants, questioned the legitimacy of the polling process hours before the results were announced, citing “incidents,” irregularities and “serious inconsistencies.”
The ex-foreign minister formalized his complaint on Sunday, sending a 41-page document to Morena’s National Commission for Honesty and Justice in which he calls for the poll results to be nullified and for the process to be redone.
Morena officials have defended the polling process and ruled out any possibility that it could be repeated.
Among the alleged irregularities Ebrard says occurred were preferential treatment of Sheinbaum by Morena’s Polling Commission, the federal Ministry of Welfare and government and party officials; the placing of undue pressure on citizens; effective vote-buying; violence and intimidation on the part of pro-Sheinbaum groups; the disappearance of ballot boxes and generally lax oversight of the polling process; and the provision of information about polling locations to Sheinbaum’s team.
Ebrard alleges various forms of misconduct on the part of Claudia Sheinbaum’s team as well as by Morena officials. (Gobierno de la Ciudad de Mexico/Cuartoscuro)
The irregularities are “fully proven” and “place the certainty of the vote in doubt,” Ebrard said in the document submitted to the honesty commission, which was supported by evidence such as photographs and video footage.
He added that “physical violence and pressure” directed at people conducting the polling process or “electors” is cause for the nullification of that process under Morena party rules if those things had a “determining” impact on the result of the vote.
At a brief press conference on Monday after he met with hundreds of supporters, Ebrard said he will leave Morena if he is not satisfied with the party’s response to his complaint.
“We’re presenting a complaint … with total conviction that what I’m saying is true,” he said.
President López Obrador and Marcelo Ebrard have a long political history going back to Ebrard’s position as Mexico City’s Public Security Minister during AMLO’s term as mayor from 2000-2005. (Gob MX)
“What course of action we take will depend on the response from Morena. If these different circumstances, incidents, that occurred in the [polling] process remain the same, I would no longer be interested in being in Morena,” said Ebrard, who stepped down as foreign minister in June to focus on his presidential ambitions.
“… If from their point of view, everything that we’ve presented … didn’t happen … then my decision would be to no longer participate [in Morena] because I don’t endorse that conduct, these practices. I’ve been fighting against them for many years,” he said.
“… We mustn’t allow these practices, which are a virus, to be in the bloodstream of Morena because they’ll have a devastating effect,” Ebrard said.
“… I have enormous affection for President López Obrador, I’ve been his most loyal collaborator, I would never harm him for political purposes, but I have to say this because it took a lot of work to organize and form Morena,” he said.
Ebrard said he wasn’t interested in getting a consolation prize from Morena, such as one of the proportional-representation Senate seats the party will be allocated after next year’s election.
“I have the greatest respect for popular representation, but it’s not my objective to get a senatorship or [another] position, my objective is for this to be resolved,” he said.
Marcelo Ebrard (left), with other aspirants to represent Morena in 2024 (Adán Augusto López, Claudia Sheinbaum and Ricardo Monreal) at the beginning of the candidate selection process in June. (CNM/X)
Ebrard said he will embark on a month-long national tour next Monday to “meet again with those who supported us.”
“We’re going to organize and formalize our national political movement,” he said without specifying what his end goal was.
Ebrard said last week that he wasn’t planning to run as an independent candidate for president, but he hasn’t ruled out contesting the election next June. One possibility is that he will reach an agreement with the Citizens Movement (MC) party to run as its candidate.
The MC is the only significant party to have not yet selected a presidential candidate for next year’s election.
Samuel García and Nuevo León officials inaugurate the new Puerto Colombia checkpoint. (nl.gob.mx)
A new international border checkpoint has opened between Nuevo León and Texas, which Nuevo León’s governor claims will be “the safest and fastest customs office in North America.”
GovernorSamuel García was in Puerto Colombia over the weekend to inaugurate the new checkpoint at the Laredo–Colombia Solidarity International Bridge. The checkpoint was designed with advice from the United States Office of Customs and Border Protection and will be operated by the National Guard and Fuerza Civil, the state police of Nuevo León.
García’s promise to install a checkpoint Puerto Colombia caused Texas governor Greg Abbott to ease increased inspections on the Laredo–Colombia Solidarity International Bridge last April. (nl.gob.mx)
The checkpoint has five vehicle lanes – two for cars and another three for trucks – with a check booth for each lane. It also includes an office, two holding cells and an enclosure for sniffer dogs.
García stressed that the checkpoint will ensure that all traffic crossing from Mexico to the U.S. complies with the laws of both countries, in accordance with an agreement made last year with Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
“I want to send a greeting and endorse my commitment to the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, that we made a year and a half ago,” García said. “Today we are sending a very strong signal that there will be no crimes and no bandits here.”
In April 2022, the Mexico-Texas border wassnarled for a week after Republican Governor Abbott ordered Texas state troopers to carry out additional inspections on every commercial truck crossing from Mexico. While the inspections caused hours-long delays and even sparked fears of food shortages in the U.S. state, the Texas Tribune reported that they found “zero drugs, weapons or any other type of contraband.”
“We are going to triple exports. We are going to break employment records,” García said. “In just two years, we’ve quadrupled foreign investment.” (nl.gob.mx)
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller echoed that assessment at the time, telling NPR that “[Abbott’s] people have no authority to open the trucks” and could only look at basic vehicle safety. NPR estimated that Abbott’s order inflicted billions of dollars in U.S. trade losses.
The gridlock only eased after Governor García agreed toinstall new checkpoints on the Mexican side of Nuevo León’s nine-mile border with Texas. The bridge is one of 28 crossings linking Texas with Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Chihuahua.
“If Nuevo León can assure security … and patrol the border to help Texas, and Texas can help us with more merchandise, with more commerce, we will do it,” García said at the time.
At the inauguration of the Puerto Colombia checkpoint, García stressed that the need for a safe and efficient customs office between Mexico and the U.S. is now greater than ever, as the nearshoring phenomenon sees ever more companies setting up plants in Mexico to be closer to U.S. markets.
“We committed to Governor Abbott to have this checkpoint, so that when we reach 10,000 daily crossings, which is going to be very soon, he will be assured that the 10,000 will be checked and monitored by dogs, cameras and X-rays and can enter [the U.S.],” García said.
Nuevo León is home to several major nearshoring projects, including a planned new Tesla gigafactory outside of Monterrey. Governor García has been avocal advocate for his state as a site for nearshoring investment, predicting that the relocation of manufacturing could spur annual economic growth of up to 10% nationwide.
Alejandra Márquez Abella, director of the best picture winner, "Northern Skies Over Empty Space", celebrates after the ceremony. (EDGAR NEGRETE LIRA/CUARTOSCURO.COM)
After nearly being canceled due to what the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (AMACC) has called “a serious financial crisis,” the 2023 Ariel Awards celebrated the best in Mexican cinema on Saturday night in a new location — Guadalajara.
Following some six decades in Mexico City, the 65th installment of the “Mexican Oscars” was held at Guadalajara’s historic Teatro Degollado.
Renowned Mexican director Alejandro G. Iñárritu at the Ariel awards, where his film “Bardo, False Chronicles of a Few Truths” took home eight awards. (EDGAR NEGRETE LIRA/CUARTOSCURO.COM)
The big winners included “El norte sobre el vacío” (rendered in English as “Northern Skies Over Empty Space”), which won best picture, and “Bardo, False Chronicles of a Few Truths,” which took home eight awards, including best director (Alejandro G. Iñárritu) and best actor (Daniel Giménez Cacho).
“Bardo” was the night’s biggest winner. The surreal tale of a renowned Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker who returns to Mexico after living in Los Angeles received 12 nominations, the third most behind “Huesera” with 17 nominations (four wins) and “El norte sobre el vacío” with 16 nominations (two wins).
The best actress Ariel Award for best actress went to veteran actor Arcelia Ramírez for her role in “La civil” as Cielo, a mother-turned–raging activist after the Mexican authorities offer no support in her search for her kidnapped teenage daughter.
“This Ariel is for the women who, unfortunately, in this country are searching for their missing children,” a visibly moved Ramírez, 55, said upon receiving the award. “I hope that Mexico moves toward a justice system that does not allow [for] even one more Cielo in this country.”
The best picture winner is a story about a rancher in northern Mexico who battles members of a drug cartel. (AMACC/X)
On the red carpet, actress Verónica Toussaint said it was “incredible that there are so many women nominated tonight” – especially for best director (four of five nominees were women) and best picture (directors of four of the five nominated films were women).
“That makes me happy and it is something historic,” said Iñárritu, 60, a four-time Oscar winner who is known for “Amores perros” (2000), “21 Grams” (2003), “Babel” (2006), “Birdman” (2014) and “The Revenant” (2015).
Though Iñárritu won the award for best director, it was a woman, Alejandra Márquez Abella, 41, who directed the best picture, “Northern Skies.” The film is based on a true story of a rancher and grandfather who tries to protect his land against a cartel.
Filmed in the states of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, the film marked the Ariel Awards’ third straight best picture directed by a woman, following Fernanda Valadez’s “Sin señas particulars” (“No Identifying Features”) in 2021 and Tatiana Huezo’s “Noche de Fuego” (“Prayers for the Stolen”) in 2022.
The horror film “Huesera” took home the best debut feature award. (AMACC/X)
Meanwhile, director Michelle Garza Cervera, 35, and her film “Huesera” (“The Bone Woman”) triumphed in the categories of debut feature, original screenplay, makeup and special effects. Her blockbuster film is a horror story about a woman who’s been trying for some time to have a child, only to be haunted by something very creepy shortly after finding out she is pregnant.
“Huesera” can be found on Amazon Prime Video in Mexico, as can “Northern Skies Over Empty Space.” “Bardo” can be watched on Netflix and “La civil” is available on Star+.
Last November, the AMACC announced that it was in a financial crisis and that it was suspending the 2023 Ariel Awards “until further notice” – causing an uproar in Mexico’s film industry.
Film critic and former director of the National Cinematheque Leonardo García Tsao said that the López Obrador administration “has shown that it is not interested in culture, it is only interested in baseball.” Filmmaker and six-time Ariel Award winner Guillermo del Toro decried the “systematic destruction” of the Mexican film industry in a Twitter post last year that was retweeted by nearly 24,000 people.
However, following Saturday night’s ceremony, the AMACC has announced it will seek to make the awards show a traveling affair. The state of Nuevo León, which has Monterrey as its capital city, has shown interest in hosting the 66th edition next year.
Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro, seen here with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, represented Mexico at the G20 summit this year. (Secretaría de Economía/X)
Mexican Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro was among the dignitaries who descended on New Delhi, India, last weekend for the 2023 G20 Summit, the eighteenth meeting of leaders of the world’s largest economies.
Here are five “Mexico-relevant” takeaways from the summit, which was perhaps most notable for a softening of the language used in reference to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the decision to admit the African Union as a 21st member.
Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro traveled to the G20 summit this year. President López Obrador has not attended any of the summits during his term. (Secretaría de Economía/X)
By not attending, AMLO (once again) showed where his priorities lie
While heavy hitters such as United States President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Premier Li Quiang discussed global issues, President López Obrador was thousands upon thousands of kilometers away in South America, where he met with Colombian President Gustavo Petro to review the fight against drug trafficking and joined Chilean President Gabriel Boric to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of former Chilean president Salvador Allende.
Since becoming president in December 2018, AMLO has attended exactly zero G20 summits, demonstrating through his non-attendance that he – as he often says – is squarely focused on issues at home.
The president – who frequently asserts that “the best foreign policy is domestic policy” – showed this year that he is more interested in regional issues (such as migration flows, the drug trafficking problem and possible economic integration) than global ones.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and South Africa’s President Cyrus Ramaphosa were some of the world leaders in attendance at the summit. (The White House/X)
In fact, during his presidency, López Obrador has only traveled abroad to other Western Hemisphere nations.
Another factor in his decision to skip this year’s G20 summit, and many previous meetings of world leaders held outside Mexico, may be his stated dislike for lengthy air travel.
Buenrostro is a highly trusted member of cabinet (and well placed to promote Mexico as a nearshoring destination)
Former foreign affairs minister Marcelo Ebrard – currently licking his wounds after his presidential ambitions were greatly diminished if not entirely quashed when Claudia Sheinbaum was announced as the ruling Morena party’s candidate – represented López Obrador (and Mexico) at previous G20 summits and numerous other meetings of world leaders.
Buenrostro is a key member of López Obrador’s cabinet and has been prominent in advocating for nearshoring investment in Mexico. (Secretaría de Economía/X)
With his successor, Alicia Bárcena, in South America with AMLO, Economy Minister Buenrostro was assigned the not insignificant task of leading Mexico’s delegation to the Republic of India.
The decision to send Buenrostro to India is an indication of her high standing in the López Obrador administration and could also be linked to her suitability to selling Mexico as a destination for foreign investment.
During the G20, the economy minister participated in a meeting with the leaders of the MIKTA (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, Australia) group and spoke about the need to support each other to “take advantage of the relocation phenomenon,” according to an Economy Ministry post on the X social media site.
While the G20 summit isn’t an investment forum, having one of the government’s top nearshoring advocates talking to world leaders about the advantages Mexico can offer to foreign companies is not inconsequential.
It’s worth remembering that Buenrostro previously headed up the federal tax agency SAT and thus knows the tax system – and the tax incentives on offer in certain parts of the country – inside out.
Mexico raised issues that are directly relevant to the lives of Mexicans
According to a joint statement issued by the Economy Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mexico at the G20 Summit “achieved the inclusion of priority issues”, including:
The fight against poverty and inequality.
Inclusive development, with gender equality as a cross-cutting theme.
The fight against trafficking in small arms and light weapons and against international illicit drug chains.
The promotion of safe and regular migration.
Increased cooperation to eradicate the trafficking of cultural property and the appropriation of the living cultural heritage of indigenous peoples.
Poverty, gender inequality, violence perpetrated with firearms smuggled into the country and migration are among the most pressing issues Mexico faces today, affecting tens of millions of Mexicans in myriad direct and indirect ways.
Mexico highlighted the issues of poverty, migration and illegal trafficking of weapons at the summit. (SRE/X)
Their inclusion on an agenda for a meeting of the world’s most powerful countries – in addition to issues such as the war in Ukraine and climate change – will always be better than non-inclusion.
Mexico’s large economy gives it access to an exclusive club
The G20, of course, is a group made up of the world’s largest economies. Mexico qualifies as the world’s 14th largest economy with GDP of approximately US $1.4 trillion in 2021, according to the World Bank.
As one of the developing countries within the G20, Mexico has an enviable opportunity to advocate for the global south, and took advantage of it in New Delhi.
In addition to the issues cited above, Buenrostro “highlighted the importance of eliminating debt for poor countries and ensuring that middle-income nations [can] get loans at the same interest rates as developed countries,” according to an Economy Ministry (SE) statement.
Membership in the G20 also gives Mexico an opportunity to sell itself on the world stage – and not just as a destination for investment.
In New Delhi, Buenrostro touted the government’s employment/reforestation scheme called Sembrando Vida (Sowing Life) and outlined progress the López Obrador administration has made in combating poverty and corruption.
While AMLO was absent, world leaders in India last weekend at least heard about the priorities his government is pursuing.
A fashion faux pas?
Buenrostro’s choice of footwear during her first G20 appearance – black Crocs – was a hot topic among Mexican social media users over the weekend.
“It’s an embarrassment,” journalist Carlos Lara Moreno wrote on X.
Claudia Villegas, another journalist, posted a photo to X that showed that another person at the same New Delhi event was also wearing Crocs.
The shoes Buenrostro wore at her first appearance at the G20 drew attention from media back home. (G20/X)
“Strange, isn’t it? Could it be that they [both] left their shoes [at the entrance] as an act of respect? In India, footwear used outside is considered dirty and impure and is always removed before entering a home. … The same can be said for temples and other places considered sacred,” she wrote.
The government, as of Monday evening, hadn’t made an official comment on “Crocgate,” which may have received more coverage in the Mexican media than the G20 Summit itself.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies ([email protected])
Traditional rugs in Teotitlán del Valle.
(Ana Luisa Gamboa/ Unsplash)
A long history of Zapotec weaving
Zapotec weaving is an ancient art form that has been passed down from generation to generation for more than 2,000 years. The Zapotec civilization arose in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca in the 6th century BCE, building great cities like Monte Albán and Mitla. Roughly 400,000 Zapotecs — who call themselves Ben’Zaa, the Cloud People — live in Mexico today. As their ancestors did, modern Zapotecs use weaving as a way to preserve their traditions, history, stories and spiritual beliefs.
Luis Ruiz explains the symbolism behind this traditional-themed Zapotec rug. In the middle is the Eye of God. Above and below the Eye of God is the Greca (Greek) design which represents the Cycle of Life.
One of the oldest weaving tools used by Indigenous people is the backstrap loom, which is used by attaching one end to a tree or post and wrapping the other end around the waist. The weaver sways their body back and forth to change the tension in the threads. Without wool-yielding domestic animals, Mesoamerican weavers made textiles with plant fibers and cotton and traditionally only men were allowed to weave in the Zapotec culture.
During the height of the Zapotec civilization, the people of Teotitlán del Valle in Oaxaca were already known for their weaving. Their woven items were considered so valuable that it is said the Mexica Emperor Moctezuma II extracted an annual tribute of 2,000 blankets and 40 pounds of dried cochineal insects— used to make carmine dye —annually from each of the seven cities he ruled.
In the 16th century, the Spanish conquistadores brought sheep and the pedal loom to Mexico and Zapotecs began using sheep’s wool in their rugs. Male weavers transitioned to the pedal loom, which requires more strength, while women filled other roles in the process: preparing wool, spinning wool into yarn, and dyeing yarn. Eventually, Zapotec women began using the backstrap loom for weaving while men wove more oversized rugs on pedal looms. In the last 60 years, women have become around 80% of backstrap weavers while roughly 75% of weavers using the pedal loom are men.
Today’s Zapotec weaving process and materials
Luis demonstrates the weaving process. The spindles of multi-colored yarn are passed through vertical threads to create the design. Each spindle represents a different color used in weaving the rug.
To learn more about the process and symbolism of Zapotec weaving, I sat down with my friend Luis Ruiz, a fifth-generation Zapotec weaver from Teotitlán del Valle. All 16 members of his family are weavers and still live in Teotitlán, where 80% of residents make their living from weaving. Luis has been a weaver for more than 21 years; his grandfather taught him how to weave at the age of three or four.
Ruiz’s large loom sits prominently in Legado Zapoteco, the small Oaxacan shop in Mazatlán’s Historic Center where he sells his rugs (called tapetes) along with artisanal work produced by several other families. Each family specializes in certain handcrafts like tinwork, black pottery and blankets, and together they form their own co-op.
Ruiz shows me the spindles of different colored yarn he is using in the rug he is currently weaving and demonstrates how to pass them horizontally through the vertical yarn to create designs while using the two floor pedals to change the tension of the threads.
The process of weaving is time-consuming and labor-intensive, Ruiz tells me: “It takes me two weeks to make a simple traditional rug but it can take a month or two to make more complicated designs or custom orders.” There is also the work that takes place before the actual weaving process: sheep, yak and alpaca wool is brushed with paddles and prongs to eliminate any debris and make the fibers lie in the same direction. The wool is then spun into yarn using a spinning wheel. “Each step of the process is typically completed by a different family,” Ruiz says. “Some families clean the wool which another family will spin into yarn. Then it goes to a family that specializes in the dyeing process,” he adds.
The dyes are organic, made from materials including tree moss, pomegranate skins, marigold, madrone bark, West Indian indigo and cochineal, a tiny insect that looks like white fuzz when found on nopal cacti leaves. The female cochineal excretes an acid that produces a deep crimson color, which has made it a hot commodity for centuries as a dye. According to Ruiz, “Some weavers mix their own dye color combinations and have specific colors that identify their rugs. No one else can reproduce that color because weavers don’t share their techniques or their secret dye recipe for the colors they create.”
Symbolism and meaning of Zapotec rugs
Traditional Zapotec rugs share common themes and symbols. Geometric pyramids represent the ancient political and economic center of Monte Albán. The zig-zag pattern represents lightning, which is connected to Cocijo, the Zapotec god of lightning and rain.
Dried cochinilla is used to make the deep crimson color used in traditional rugs.
Ruiz explains the design of a traditional Zapotec rug: “The Geometric spiral called Greca (Greek) reflects the cycle of life according to the Zapotec cosmic vision and can be found on Zapotec pyramids. This theme always has four lines or levels starting at the bottom they symbolize birth and childhood, teenage years, and adulthood, and the top line which is the longest is old age. That line is the longest because at that point you have attained wisdom and know how to appreciate the time you have left. Next is a hooked part of the spiral which is death.”
Arrows are part of some themes due to their importance for hunting and warfare. Stars are the eyes of the gods expressing love to those on Mother Earth. Fish represent abundance and are typically arranged in a vertical line. The bottom fish represents the past and has an eye. If the fish at the top, which represents the future, does not have an eye, that means the weaver is still living.
The Eye of God, very prevalent in many rugs, symbolizes the power of seeing and understanding the unseen. The Eye of God is placed inside a diamond. The top half represents the sky or heaven, the bottom half is hell. If you cover the bottom half of the diamond, you can see a pyramid and the bottom half is a horizontal reflection of the pyramid symbolizing a mirror that reflects our inner life. The Eye of God is sometimes placed inside a rectangle representing the entrance to the spirit world and a sacred place of spirituality.
Zapotec weaving is a very spiritual and personal journey for weavers connecting them to their ancestors, beliefs and inner self. Like many of his generation, Luis sees himself as an artist. The older generation of weavers describe themselves as artisans.
Luis explains his artwork, “Making a rug is very special for me, not only because it is exciting to see the combinations and designs that you can create and the satisfaction of seeing the finished piece, but it also takes a lot of patience and time. During the time weaving the rug we, as weavers, impregnate the rug with our feelings: happiness, sadness, frustration, anger. When we finish a rug, it fills us with joy and it excites us when someone buys it because they not only have a unique piece made by hand, but they also have a little piece of our feelings and time.”
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.
An aerial view of construction on the new Tulum international airport in June. (Andrés Manuel López Obrador/X)
There was a time not so long ago when everyone who went to Tulum absolutely loved it. The boho vibe, the stunning unspoiled beaches, the magical cenotes, the low-density development, the perfect weather, and that unbelievable water – it was almost impossible not to love.
My wife and I got married near Tulum over 20 years ago, and every one of our guests was blown away by its beauty. We have come back to Tulum multiple times every year since then, and have watched the changes to the once-small town with a combination of fascination, awe, shock, and concern.
Tulum is not in the top 100 largest cities in Mexico, yet everyone in the country and increasingly around the world has heard of this special place.
Tulum was once a tiny little beach town, known for its Maya ruins, hippies, chill music, yoga, healthy food, and a relaxing vibe. I remember many times walking on the Tulum beach saying to my wife, “this is about as perfect of a spot as one can find on the planet”. Back then, the beach had only one access road, and it was slow and potholed. The hotels on the beach, as quaint as they were, ran on generators, trucked in clean water, and trucked out dirty water – not exactly perfection.
As often happens to such places, the word got out, and social media accelerated the buzz of this magical place. In the mid-2010’s, prices began to increase, quite dramatically. The quaint little hotels on the beach started doubling or tripling in size and density. The music went from “chill” to “ electronic dance music”. The crowd changed from real hippies to big city wealthy wanna-be hippies (at least for a long weekend). Along with the crowd, the scene changed from a beer and a little weed to much harder party drugs that began to bring in a whole other set of problems.
Yet Tulum kept growing and growing. A large supermarket came in. Ever larger and glamorous condo and hotel projects started to be built. Hundreds of trendy restaurants and bars opened up. And eventually, a second access road to the beach along with power and city water connections.
Prices continued to increase – it is said that the price per kilometer of a taxi in Tulum is more expensive than in Manhattan. Beach hotel prices of US $1,000 per night are not at all unheard of. Tulum’s popularity hit a stratospheric level during the COVID-19 pandemic. The city didn’t shut down, and the rich and famous from around the world came and stayed for weeks and months – posting about every great day and every epic evening on social media.
And so the growth even further accelerated. In 2022, building permits for more than 4,000 new housing units were granted in Tulum. The new Tulum international airport is now well under construction and expected to open by December. The Maya Train will include not only one but two stops in the city. A massive new natural reserve, the Parque Jaguar, is being built around the ruins at the north end of the city. Hotel chains are coming in, a new shopping mall in under construction, chain restaurants are coming in…
How can we make sense of all of this? Is Tulum forever ruined or a better place as a result of all of this?
Let me say that for those of us who long for “the way places used to be”, we will likely never be convinced that the change is for the good. Of course I long for the Tulum of many years ago. But no thoughtful analysis is that simple. The world is changing, every place is changing and evolving. I personally strive to be an optimist and will apply that frame of thinking to Tulum’s changes.
First, I try to find solace in so much change by focusing on the people who live and work there, versus the occasional tourist who misses the way things once were. I have seen firsthand how many locals with barely a roof over their head have been able to climb the social ladder as a result of all of the jobs and investment.
I have seen countless immigrants (often from Chiapas – Mexico’s poorest state) come to Tulum to be a part of the “Tulum dream”. They arrive on an overnight bus from Chiapas in the morning and have a job by the afternoon. Initially, there was no place for all of these immigrants to live and so they all began carving out homes from the jungle in an area called la invasión (“the invasion” – as there were no building permits or land titles).
These immigrants began with nothing more than a hammock strung from two trees, a backpack, and the clothes on their back. When one sees this area now, there are brick homes, small stores and restaurants, bikes and motorcycles, families with young children – all working hard to improve their economic status and striving to live the immigrant’s “Tulum dream”.
For tourists, with the right perspective, Tulum can still be a great place to vacation. More cenotes and jungle activities have opened up for public enjoyment. New hotels, restaurants, and bars open up weekly. You can find a quiet beach club offering cold coconuts and hammocks or a loud one with beach beds, go-go dancers, and US $1,000 bottle service, depending on your interest. The “old Tulum” can still be found in small restaurants run by immigrants, in jungle yoga shalas, and in morning walks on the beach.
A fun activity – albeit not one that many tourists likely do – is to go downtown in the evening to the basketball court near the zócalo. Here you see the “Tulum dream” in full force. Workers, both men and women, relaxing after a hard day’s work by playing basketball. Laughing, joking, smiling. Their friends and family cheer them on while they eat tamales, roasted corn, or fresh fruit.
When you talk to these recent immigrants, they are bursting with excitement at the opportunities they see coming to them and their families with the Maya Train and Tulum airport. I must admit that I often miss the tranquility of the old Tulum, but I am inspired by the positive outlook on life and the future from many of its new residents.
With the arrival of the Maya Train and a new airport, developers are flocking to the area, but experts say infrastructure and urban planning are both lagging behind. (Wikimedia Commons)
Fueled by the federal government’s infrastructure projects in Quintana Roo, the city of Tulum has seen a spur in demand for affordable housing as new residents relocate to the state.
According to the Municipal Director of Urban Development Carlos Salas Minaya, many looking for housing are not tourists or people interested in short-term rentals, but potential residents who will be working on the Maya Train, at the Tulum International Airport or at the Jaguar National Park.
Experts and authorities alike are concerned about whether Tulum will be able to provide the necessary housing infrastructure for these developments. (@SEDATU_mx/X)
Without sharing further details, Salas told the newspaper La Jornada that permit requests from investors to build low and moderate-income housing units and houses on private lots, “have increased in recent months.”
“There are many requests to develop complexes, apartments, houses and much more,” Salas said.
But some experts are concerned about whether Tulum has the necessary infrastructure, urban planning and regulation to support the population’s growth.
“We are seeking to [build better] infrastructure,” Salas said, mentioning that the municipality has made improvements little by little. “But it is not easy because these are big investments,” which require major infrastructure to support it. Salas assured, however, that the local government is working towards securing decent homes for its residents with the support of private investors.
The new Jaguar National Park is one of several local public works that will create demand for employee housing. (@MeyerFalcon/X)
According to the Mexican Real Estate Industry Association (AMII), some 1,000 residential projects are under construction in northern Quintana Roo, of which 40% are in Tulum.
“The real estate offer in the area is impressive,” the National Head of the AMII Wilberth J. Gutiérrez told the newspaper El Economista, “but not necessarily of good quality,” he warned.
Marcelo Ramírez, head of AMII Cancún, added that the accelerated growth of the real estate market has surpassed the government’s capacity to supervise and regulate new projects.
“It was very easy for the government to ‘green light’ some of those projects without them being 100% regulated,” Ramírez explained in a webinar organized by the condominium management technology company Neivor. “[The pace of development] has somehow surpassed the authorities’ capacity to process [permits].”
Local industry leaders urge the creation of urban planning instruments that can help ease the transition in boomtown Tulum. (Wikimedia Commons)
Experts associated with AMII agree that urban planning and infrastructure must be prioritized to guarantee orderly real estate development and economic growth in Quintana Roo. According to Gutiérrez, regulation must include stricter criteria and standards when evaluating construction permits and licenses.
For AMII’s president in Tulum, Melania Cisneros, it isn’t only about promoting infrastructure, “but about creating urban planning instruments that transcend time,” regardless of changes in the government.
“Unfortunately, whenever there are good ideas for infrastructure and regional development, continuity isn’t necessarily there for them to remain in the long term,” Gutiérrez said. “This could be a factor that interrupts current growth,” he concluded.
Claudia Sheinbaum, former mayor of Mexico City and Morena candidate for president in 2024. (Cuartoscuro)
Claudia Sheinbaum last Wednesday became the second confirmed candidate for the 2024 presidential election when the ruling Morena party announced she had defeated five men in a polling process to secure its nomination.
The former Mexico City mayor (2018-23), who will also represent the Labor Party and the Ecological Green Party of Mexico, will face off against the Broad Front for Mexico’s Xóchitl Gálvez at the June 2, 2024 election. Senator Gálvez was officially designated as the three-party opposition alliance’s “coordinator” just over a week ago.
Claudia Sheinbaum (left) and Xóchitl Gálvez (right) will represent Morena and the Broad Front for Mexico coalition, respectively, in the 2024 presidential race. (MND)
A candidate backed by the Citizens Movement party and one or more independent hopefuls could yet enter the race.
Sheinbaum – a physicist and environmental scientist who was environment minister in Mexico City when Andrés Manuel López Obrador was mayor in the early 2000s – recently spoke with Expansión Política, the politics site of the Expansión news organization, and expressed views on a range of issues she will face if elected as Mexico’s first female president next June.
The 61-year-old Mexico City native gave brief responses to a series of rapid fire questions as well as more elaborate ones on topics including public security, renewable energy and the opportunity presented by the growing nearshoring phenomenon, which she spoke about in significant detail in a separate interview last month.
“Not now,” said Sheinbaum, who last week received a “baton of command” from President López Obrador, who has ceded the leadership of the “fourth transformation” political project he initiated to Morena’s new standard-bearer.
Yes or no to the army in the streets?
“[Yes] until the National Guard is strengthened.”
Yes or no to help from the United States to combat narcos and crime groups?
“Not if it is invasive.”
Yes or no to jail for ex-presidents?
“It’s not for me to say.”
Would you live in the National Palace (as President López Obrador does)?
Sheinbaum on the use of the military for public security tasks
“There are municipalities in the country where, if you withdraw the army, they’re left with nothing, they’re abandoned,” Morena’s presumptive nominee told Expansión when asked whether the military should be patrolling the streets of Mexico.
The National Guard (GN) had been placed under military control last year, but in April, the Supreme Court ruled the transfer of the GN to Defense Ministry control was unconstitutional. (Sedena)
Sheinbaum said that “the ideal thing” would be to have a strong National Guard that is able to relieve the military of its public security duties across Mexico.
As things stand, the National Guard – which was created by the López Obrador administration – needs to strengthen its capacity to patrol all areas of the country, investigate crimes and make arrests, she said.
On what she would do in her first days as president
Sheinbaum said she would put an end to tax evasion if she had the capacity to change something by presidential decree during her first days in office.
She added that if she had one “wish,” she would put an end to poverty.
On the military’s management of customs, ports and airports (an initiative of the current government)
Sheinbaum said she would keep customs facilities, ports and airports under the control of the armed forces “for the time being” as a “significant part” of the problems in those places was related to organized crime.
Having adequate security in customs facilities, ports and airports, and getting rid of any remnant corruption is “important,” she said.
On the future of state oil company Pemex and renewable energy
Asked whether she would “rescue” Pemex – as the López Obrador administration claims to be doing – or create a new state-owned renewable energy company, Sheinbaum responded “both.”
“I believe that energy sovereignty has to do with the base President López Obrador is leaving and accelerating the transition toward renewable sources of energy,” she said.
Sheinbaum says she would accelerate the transition to renewable energy sources. One of López Obrador’s administration’s main alternative energy projects is the Puerto Peñasco solar park in Sonora, pictured here. (Mexico Energy Partners LLC)
To achieve energy sovereignty a transition to more efficient energy use is also required, the former mayor said.
“It’s not just about having new sources of renewable energy. … The use of energy – from domestic use to commercial use to industrial processes – also [has to] be more efficient,” Sheinbaum said.
“That has to do with structural changes in production processes, and new technologies,” she said.
On tax reform
Sheinbaum said she wasn’t currently contemplating a tax reform, but acknowledged that the issue needs to be studied more.
If tax evasion continues to decline, the government will receive more revenue, she noted.
“At the same time [we need to] facilitate the payment of taxes. I believe that this is something important that would allow more revenue to be collected before [even] thinking about increasing taxes,” Shinbaum said.
She noted that tax revenue from customs is already about one trillion pesos (US $57.6 billion) per year, and asserted that that amount could be substantially increased by eliminating corruption within the customs agency and “strengthening the development of our country through exports and imports.”
On judicial reform
Sheinbaum said she supported López Obrador’s proposal for Supreme Court justices and other judges to be elected “by popular vote.”
“I believe that [would] give a freshness to the judicial power,” she said.
Sheinbaum asserted that many Supreme Court justices favor vested interests over true justice even though they were “elected by Congress.”
The 11 justices of Mexico’s Supreme Court. Sheinbaum says she supports AMLO’s proposal that they be elected by popular vote. (SCJN)
She also said that it is essential that the Federal Judiciary Council sanction judges who have been found to have committed “acts of corruption” or made improper use of their position.
On the role of business in government
Sheinbaum said that Mexico’s private sector is “very important” and that continued investment in the country is importantísimo, or extremely important.
She said that the current government, unlike previous ones, created a necessary “division” between Mexico’s “economic power” – big business, for example – and “political power,” and asserted that that separation must be maintained.
“What we have to think is that private investment also creates wellbeing in the country,” Sheinbaum added.
As president of Mexico, she indicated she would push business to pay higher salaries, saying that the model under which Mexico sold cheap labor to the world “created inequality and poverty.”
(During López Obrador’s presidency, Mexico’s minimum wage has more than doubled, and is currently set at 207 pesos per day, or about US $12, in most of the country.)
On her economic priorities
Sheinbaum said she would “continue working for the well-being” of the Mexican people if she becomes president in late 2024.
“We can speak about economic growth, we can speak about investment, but our [main] indicator always has to be the well-being of Mexicans,” she said.
Within the context of economic policies and goals, sustainability is also an important consideration, Sheinbaum said.
On what she would do to help attract foreign companies to Mexico
Asked how she would take advantage of the nearshoring phenomenon, Sheinbaum said that having the “conditions” to attract more investment is essential.
She was apparently referring to things such as security, a reliable energy supply and the availability of well-educated and trained workers.
“In addition, we have to create the conditions so that these investments generate well-being,” Sheinbaum said.
Sheinbaum says that “investment by itself doesn’t generate well-being”. (Daniel Augusto / Cuartoscuro.com)
“What am I referring to? Where are the Tesla workers going to live? I asked that question to the governor of Nuevo León. [The answer] isn’t clear,” she said.
“Where are they going to live? What schools are their children going to attend? … Where are the hospitals going to be?” Sheinbaum asked.
“… What we’ve already seen is that investment by itself doesn’t generate well-being,” she said, adding that Mexico has a “great opportunity” to not only attract new investment but also “create quality of life.”
On the United States
Asked to choose between the United States and China, Sheinbaum said that Mexico has an “inseparable” trade relationship with its northern neighbor.
She noted that Mexico and the U.S. are “economically integrated” whereas “there is no free trade agreement with China.”
“… The relationship with China exists and it has to continue existing, but the agreement with the U.S. has to be maintained and strengthened as well,” Sheinbaum said of the USMCA free trade pact, which also includes Canada.
On the López Obrador administration
“President Andrés Manuel López Obrador generated a great change in our country,” Sheinbaum said of her political mentor.
“Mexico is different today than it was up until November 2018. … The president today isn’t just popular because of his social programs, but because he looks to the people of Mexico [for guidance about how to govern]. The people of Mexico identify with their president,” she said.
On why the Mexican people should believe what she says
“Because of my history. You can speak a lot, but it’s your history that defends you,” Sheinbaum said, adding that her background as a public servant, scientist, academic and person is known to the Mexican people.
This year’s entries for the 2023 Expo Quilt México Internacional leaned very heavily into “art quilts”. The baby image on the far left is not painted but painstakingly created through appliqué by Ánges Tamés Pidal. (Leigh Thelmadatter)
Most English speakers from North America are quite familiar with patchwork quilts; it is one of the few native handcrafts we still have north of the border, and it remains a part of Anglo-American identity. Although not documented, when American and Canadians began retiring to Mexico in large numbers after World War II, the hobby likely accompanied them south.
Avid Canadian quilter Wendy Wilton was pleasantly surprised to learn of active quilting “guilds,” or clubs, in places like San Miguel de Allende and Ajijic. Like their counterparts up north, these clubs provide quilters an outlet to socialize and get technical help. They also do community outreach, donating quilts to organizations such as orphanages, veterans and hospitals. Recently, the Ajijic guild sent a batch of handmade quilts to Ukraine.
Members of the Ajijic Quilt Guild and the quilts they made to be sent to Ukraine (courtesy Ajijic Quilt Guild)
Quilting’s social-service side may best be reflected in the tireless work of Mazatlán-based Linda Hannawalt. She had already been a force in the quilting world as the founder of the California non-profit San Francisco Sewing & Quilting Collaborative. In the mid 2010s, she moved to Mazatlán. Thinking she was the first quilter in the country, Linda quickly founded the San Francisco Quilt Shop in a building close to where cruise ship passengers arrive. Then, she recruited local sewers looking to learn a new craft that would appeal to a new and lucrative market.
The Mazatlán store is indeed a business, selling finished products, quilting supplies, and classes to foreign winter residents and tourists. Hannawalt’s passion, however, is sharing the success she has had with Mazatlán women.
After finding out that there are indeed other quilters in Mexico, she began to network, finding opportunities to support fledgling groups, including one for deaf women in Zihuatanejo. During the pandemic, Linda helped Mexican quilt businesses stay afloat by helping them import needed supplies while Mexican nationals were barred from entering the U.S. Her store’s income provides much of the support for this outreach.
But it is not just foreign women promoting quilting in Mexico. Although the Ajijic guild is English-speaking and geared towards retirees, it has attracted Mexican hobbyists from as far as Guadalajara. Quilt business owners Silvia Barba Alhadro and Teresa Gurria of the Mexico City metropolitan area are two of over a dozen businesses that cater almost exclusively to Mexican women who, as Gurria says, “get hooked” on quilts.
Beatriz Juarez Arroyo from the Mundo Mágico de Sofy of Morelia demonstrates cutting a piece of cloth for patchwork (courtesy Mundo Mágico)
By 2019, Mexico was hosting expos, guilds and more in areas such as Monterrey, Mérida, León and Veracruz. Expo Quilt México Internacional is the largest of these, founded and run by Silvia Barba Alhadro, proprietor of The Quilting Studio in the fashionable San Ángel neighborhood of Mexico City.
Events like these, Silvia says, are a lot of work, but they are important because of the networking opportunities among quilters and with the general public. Not only do these events have booths featuring quilt shops, fabrics and sewing machines, they have exhibitions and competitions of some of the finest quilts being produced in Mexico.
Most expos and events took a hiatus during the pandemic, and some have yet to come back, but there is optimism that it is only a matter of time.
Barba Alhadro, an early pioneer, quilting by chance while working at an international school. She began quilting as a hobby, but when more and more friends and family wanted to learn, she started a quilting “school” in her home. It grew big enough that 12 years ago, she moved The Quilt Shop classes to its current location in the San Ángel neighborhood. Quilting classes have been the introduction to the craft for many Mexican women, not only because it provides a creative outlet, but perhaps more importantly, it provides a social one for many upper-class Mexican stay-at-home moms and retirees.
Developed quilt businesses in Mexico often have services like sewing the patchwork tops onto the lower layers to finish the quilts using special sewing (courtesy San Francisco Quilt Shop)
Gathering regularly at the The Quilt Shop or any other of over a dozen quilt “schools” in the Mexico City area may be even more important than the quilting itself.
“What is said in quilting class, stays in quilting class,” says Teresa Gurria, a former student of Barba Alhadro’s who runs her own quilt business in the northwestern Mexico City suburb of Atizapan. Even if the quilt shop looks like one north-of-the-border, the center of activity is always the classes, not necessarily the fabric for sale.
Most quilters in Mexico, like those in the U.S. and Canada, strongly prefer to quilt with fine, 100% cotton fabrics made specifically for the hobby. These fabrics can be pricey and while they mimic what was used to quilt a century ago, there is one main difference: today’s quilts are rarely made with leftover scraps the way they were back then.
Quilting classes like those at The Quilting Studio in Mexico City provide an important social outlet for homebound women. (courtesy The Quilting Studio)
One exception to this may be the quilting that is developing in Morelia, which had its first quilting expo last March at the city’s convention center, called Amistad Creativa (meaning “creative friendship”). The event attracted over 500 people, receiving support from city and state authorities, which see the economic possibilities of quilting for poor women and other marginalized groups. The expo also promoted “scrap” quilting as a way to recycle fabric. The use of modern commercial fabrics can be tricky in quilted products, but they are a resource that is more readily available in Mexico.
Wilton has “no doubt” that quilting has a bright and growing future in Mexico. All of the women interviewed agree, whether their purpose for quilting is purely therapeutic or they hope to find economic progress. Though Mexican quilters are still working with traditional Anglo designs for the most part, but given this country’s creativity, I expect that to eventually evolve.
If you are interested in finding a quilting group, here is a list of contacts to start with:
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.
Wow! Before we get to all the “but…but…but…”s, can we just take a minute to talk about how amazing this is?
There we go. Thank you.
Though many will claim that feminism and various women’s movements have more than done their duty in the world, the actual numbers of women who gain any positions of power on a societal level tell a different story.
So say what you will about Morena (the party of the current president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador), but since coming to power in such a major way in 2018, political gender parity has taken great leaps and bounds in Mexico, from a woman Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, to my local friend who travels all over the state assisting in emergencies while her partner stays home as the primary caregiver.
And by the way, Mexico’s Supreme Court also just decriminalized abortion, meaning the states that have yet to do so will need to change their criminal codes. For now, it’s in the kind of legal limbo that marijuana possession is…not exactly legal (in most states), but also not punishable with jail time since a landmark 2021 Supreme Court ruling. It’s an important start.
I know that having a woman president probably won’t be earth-shattering. After all, we can’t expect it to solve Mexico’s problem with sexism any more than having a black president solved the United States’ problem with racism.
It also won’t prevent people from trotting out, as they did during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, their own disclaimers to prove they’re both non-sexist and Smart Discerning People: “Look, I’m all for a woman president, but these particular women are very flawed.”
Sigh.
Still though, representation matters, and for millions of girls and women in Mexico – indeed, all over the world – seeing another woman head of state, especially in a country as important on a global scale as Mexico, is going to be a Very Big Deal.
So, what about these candidates?
Claudia, we mostly know. And Claudia will almost certainly be the winner of the presidency, as the Morena party has shown no signs of losing enough popularity to not win in a landslide. The people (mostly) love AMLO (as the current president is known), and Claudia is his protégé.
What kind of leader would she be? She’s been a wisely careful Morena politician, always careful not to contradict the current much-loved president. Unlike many women in power, she’s mostly avoided the usual labels of “hysterical” and “incompetent.” She’s smart. She knows not to place herself as an alternative to AMLO, but rather as a prettier, younger, emotionally steadier extension of his most popular policies and programs who will continue la cuarta transformación (“the fourth transformation”, often written shorthand as “4T”) of Mexico.
Even so, my hopes for her saying “Anyway, let’s set ourselves to the business of making things right,” especially in terms of the environment, are high. I also have high hopes for a more on-the-ground approach to women’s rights. I certainly wouldn’t expect her to accuse women protesting for their rights as “conservative feminists,” which is an oxymoron if I ever heard one.
Xóchitl Gálvez, from what little I know of her, seems like an admirable person. Her joke a while back that the current president, who couldn’t seem to stop talking (negatively) about her, was her campaign manager gave me a good chuckle. But how would she govern? We’ve got a bit of information, and I’ll be very curious to get to know her better as a candidate as the campaigns gear up.
So far, the main argument of the “Broad Front for Mexico” (the FAM) coalition is that they’re not Morena. But standing against something is hardly a platform. As Kate Bohné, our editor asked recently in her excellent Substack The Mexpatriate, what exactly do they stand for? Ideologically, this is a coalition made up of radically clashing beliefs, so it’s hard to say what direction actual policies would take in the country. The PAN (the party she belongs to) and the PRI, too, have fairly tarnished reputations.
I’m a little wary of Gálvez too because of her party’s association with the conservative movement in Mexico. (“March for the Family” anyone?) Her biggest job during the campaign will be to show us who she is, what she stands for, and what kinds of policies she would fight for as president. Will she take a page from the U.S. Republican party and fan the culture wars at the expense of “the real issues”? What does she think of the textbooks? What does she think of abortion rights? What are her views on poverty? Is she one of those, “if I could do it, anyone can” type of people?
AMLO’s big selling point, much like Obama’s, was hope. Will she be able to make people hopeful about their future?
Much remains to be seen. But right now, Mexico is continuing to show the world what human female leadership looks like.
For now, let’s just celebrate.
Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sarahedevries.substack.com.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mexico News Daily, its owner or its employees.
