The peso has appreciated nearly 15% against the dollar so far this year. (Depositphotos)
The value of one US dollar dipped below 17 Mexican pesos for the first time since 2015 on Wednesday morning.
Data from the financial and media company Bloomberg showed that one greenback was buying 16.98 shortly after 7:30 a.m. Mexico City time.
That exchange rate represented the peso’s strongest position since December 2015. The peso subsequently weakened slightly and was trading at 17.00 to the dollar shortly before 9 a.m.
The Mexican peso has appreciated 14.77% against the US dollar this year, making it the world’s second best performing currency against the greenback.
High interest rates in Mexico — the central bank’s benchmark rate is currently 11.25% — is seen as one factor that has contributed to the peso’s positive performance this year. Strong incoming flows of foreign capital and remittances are among the other factors cited by analysts.
Janneth Quiroz Zamora, chief economist at the Monex financial group, wrote on Twitter that positive data on domestic consumer demand published by the national statistics agency INEGI on Wednesday morning gave the peso a boost.
French bank BNP Paribas is predicting that the USD-MXN exchange rate will be 16.70 at the end of the year, but the four largest banks in the Mexican market – BBVA, Banorte, Citibanamex and Santander – all predict that a greenback will buy more than 18 pesos at the close of 2023.
San Miguel de Allende is a perfect place to have a home with a pool. (CDR San Miguel Founding Member of Forbes Global Properties)
In San Miguel de Allende, the UNESCO World Heritage city in the heart of Mexico (voted “world’s best small city” three times by Condé Nast Traveler), the weather is pretty much perfect all year round. There’s a sense of the seasons, but the sun always shines. That means if you’re buying a home, a swimming pool is a luxury that makes complete sense.
San Miguel’s environment, the high desert sierra, is a happy climate oasis, where international travelers flock to enjoy ideal temperatures and low humidity. More people are investing in second homes, or making the switch to residency here. Whether you’re dreaming of an 18th-century hacienda style treasure or a state of the art modern eco-home, San Miguel offers outstanding real estate opportunities for all tastes.
Calle Aldama is one of the most famous and beloved streets in San Miguel. (Unsplash)
A few blocks away from the town’s central plaza, this majestic 7-bedroom 18th-century hacienda’s pool is the heart of the house, set in an open landscaped courtyard. Flanked by the exotic outdoor living room, a dining area with high beamed ceilings and one of several elegant guest rooms, the lush pool area is ideal for entertaining, and soaking up an ambiance of history, beauty and artistry.
This home is one of the finest examples of a re-imagined grand hacienda in the city, with its soaring arches, original fireplaces, chandeliers and exquisitely carved wooden doors transporting you back in time, and conjuring the soul of colonial Mexico.
The peaceful pool in Casa Palikao. (CDR San Miguel Founding Member of Forbes Global Properties)
Other stand-out features are the outdoor staircases which lead to a botanical garden on the second level, overlooking the glorious skyline, and an impressively restored second house and garden that is seamlessly joined to the original house.
This rare jewel is truly a one-off in luxury, and has been lovingly redesigned by renowned designers and architects.
Located on one of the most beautiful streets in central San Miguel, this 4-bedroom property epitomizes intimacy, charm and character. The progressively leveled terrace gardens lead down to its magical pool area, bordered by classic deep red, bamboo and ivy covered walls, featuring one of the home’s delightful array of antique stone animal statues.
Poolside at Casa Camille. (CDR San Miguel Founding Member of Forbes Global Properties)
Sink into the atmosphere of the town’s Spanish colonial history, with this home’s ancient loggia, richly detailed carved woodwork throughout the house, blue and white tiled halls and walls, and abundant greenery and trees. The eye-catching entryway gate, fashioned in extravagantly patterned metal work is another notable feature.
This light-filled, distinctively classical home embodies elegance and boasts original stone fireplaces, antique water features, and luxurious rooms, two with inner courtyards.
Stunning views from the rooftop terrace provide just one more area in a home where space is masterfully designed to flow and to foster the perfect environment for entertaining.
The two guest rooms’ French doors open onto this gorgeous pool terrace, inviting you to imagine a bright morning or golden evening dip!
Experience shades of Tuscany in this exquisite farmhouse style 4-bedroom modern home, set in a secure residential community within one of the most beautiful vineyards, just 20 minutes outside San Miguel.
The solar-heated pool is the central feature of the garden and offers panoramic views across the vineyards, cypress and olive groves, and lavender fields. Next to it is a dining area shaded by grapevines – which creates a spectacular space to hang out all day!
The solar-heated pool at Casa Merlot. (CDR San Miguel Founding Member of Forbes Global Properties)
This luxury country lifestyle offers the opportunity to bask in the beauty of nature. The home itself boasts custom-designed wood doors and library bookcases, an impressive modern marble-topped kitchen, lofty ceilings, expansive windows that flood the rooms with natural light and top-shelf amenities throughout.
You’ll be privy to special amenities, like tennis, billiards, a clubhouse, an event space, horse riding – and the reputable wines bottled on-site, at residents’ prices!
A feat of modern design by architect Paolo Arango, built using local stone, this 3-bedroom eco-friendly home is situated in the exclusive Malanquín Golf Club, on the edge of town.
You can relish the lake, valley and mountain vistas from the spectacular infinity pool in the spacious backyard, which also has two large patios, outdoor dining, a grill and fire-pit.
Modern fireplaces, custom carpentry, granite kitchen features, walk-in closets, balconies and even a bathtub, are all noteworthy features of this contemporary gem. With its impressive windows, the interior seems to blend seamlessly into the outdoors, creating an unrivaled sense of space.
The infinity pool at Casa Alba. (CDR San Miguel Founding Member of Forbes Global Properties)
Rainwater recycling, drip irrigation for the garden, solar power, LED lighting and a smart home kit makes this a home that anticipates the future and displays highly creative architectural design.
Retreat into this stunning area at the foot of the picachos mountains, to discover this modern and stylish 4-bedroom home.
Only 10 minutes from town, you’ll feel like you’re in the countryside; though on the edge of La Malcontenta neighborhood, you can be assured you’re secure.
Mountain views from the pool at Casa Vista Picachos. (CDR San Miguel Founding Member of Forbes Global Properties)
Here, the breathtaking aqua pool rises up towards the mountainous skyline, with a hot tub close by for cooler mornings and pleasant evenings. The entire outdoor area, including the seating round the grill and stone fire circle, is beautifully lit by night.
Inside, this modern beauty includes the unique features of a wide walnut staircase, mezquite doors, hand-painted tiles, upstairs terraces and a sauna.
The sense of light, space and artful modern design, like the high ceilings with contemporary beams and chandeliers, is a perfect counterpoint to the rugged, dramatic and awe-inspiring setting of the high sierra.
Post-pandemic, San Miguel de Allende is more in demand than ever before. We’re seeing an exponential increase in foreign residents and businesses, injecting this cultural hub with even more quality, variety, diversity and energy. It’s a city explosive with new creative potential, yet retaining the calm grandeur of its history and culture.
There is no doubt that if you’re looking to invest or to live here, these five truly magnificent, high-end properties, each with unique and notable pools – listed with the city’s most reputable luxury brokerage, CDR San Miguel Founding Member of Forbes Global Properties – offer that quintessential magic the city is renowned for.
A pro-migrant protester stands outside the U.S. embassy in Mexico City. The Mexican government says that Florida's SB 1718 and Kansas' HB 2350 unfairly target migrant workers. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)
Mexico has expressed its opposition to recently enacted laws in the U.S. states of Florida and Kansas due to their potential impact on Mexican migrants.
In two separate statements, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) said that the federal government disapproves of the immigration law that took effect in Florida on July 1 and the human smuggling law that went into force in Kansas on the same day.
Foreign Affairs Minister Alicia Bárcena met with President López Obrador to discuss the anti-immigration measures. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
The former law makes using the Department of Homeland Security website E-Verify “mandatory for any employer with 25 or more employees, imposes enforceable penalties for those employing illegal aliens, and enhances penalties for human smuggling,” according to a statement on the website of Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed the legislation in May.
It also “prohibits local governments from issuing Identification Cards (ID) to illegal aliens, invalidates ID cards issued to illegal aliens in other states, and requires hospitals to collect and submit data on the costs of providing health care to illegal aliens,” among other measures.
The SRE said that Mexican consulates in Miami and Orlando, “on behalf of the government of Mexico, express the government’s repudiation of measures that lead to acts of discrimination and racial profiling.”
The statement said that the federal government respects the “processes and measures taken by state legislatures” in the United States but believes that the new law “will affect the human rights of thousands of Mexicans, including children, and will exacerbate hostile environments, which may lead to hate crimes and acts against the migrant community.”
Many Mexicans in Florida protested against the measures at the state capitol. (Cody Butler/Twitter)
“The measure does not reflect the migrants’ valuable contribution to the economy, society and culture of Florida and the country,” the SRE added.
The ministry also said that “criminalization is not the way to solve the issue of undocumented immigration” and asserted that the measures in the law are inspired by “xenophobic and white nationalist sentiments.”
“Policies such as these also have a strong impact on the bilateral relationship between Mexico and the United States, given that they demonstrate the reluctance of some actors to find joint solutions that invite collaboration,” the SRE said.
“… On behalf of the Government of Mexico, the Foreign Ministry will use all resources at its disposal to defend the rights and dignity of the Mexicans in Florida. … With the support of civil society organizations involved in defending human rights, Mexico will identify and register potential cases of violations of the rights of Mexican nationals,” the ministry said.
Migrant workers are the backbone of various types of labor in Florida, but there are reports that many are leaving the state as a result of the new law, described as one of the strictest immigration laws in the U.S. (kzoo)
It added that consular staff will be trained in the “scope” of the law and “in publicizing messages and recommendations through the ‘Know and Exercise Your Rights’ strategy, which seeks to educate our community about their basic rights.”
Some migrant workers have decided to leave Florida due to the implementation of the new law, according to an official with the Farmworkers Association of Florida.
“We are hearing people are starting to leave,” Yvette Cruz told CBS News. She predicted that more migrants will leave due to the application of Senate Bill 1718, which has been described as one of the strictest immigration laws in the United States.
President López Obrador on Monday expressed his dislike for the new law and called on like-minded citizens to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with it at the ballot box.
Kansas governor Laura Kelly, right, vetoed her state’s immigration bill, saying legislators hadn’t thought out its consequences well enough, but her veto was overturned. (Laura Kelly/Twitter)
“Not one vote for DeSantis,” he said, acknowledging the governor’s presidential aspirations. “Not one vote for those who reject migrants. We can’t remain silent.”
In Kansas, House Bill 2350, which took effect Saturday, “creates the crimes of human smuggling and aggravated human smuggling, provides for criminal penalties, and makes these provisions supplemental to the Kansas Criminal Code.”
The SRE statement on that law expressed a sentiment similar to that conveyed in the press release on the new measures in Florida.
“The Consulate of Mexico in Kansas City, on behalf of the Government of Mexico, expresses the government’s repudiation and concern regarding initiatives such as these that can lead to racial profiling and acts of discrimination and abuses against the Hispanic, Latino and Mexican community,” it said.
Under the new Florida law, hospitals receiving Medicaid money would be required to ask every patient about their immigration status and report that data to the state. (Florida Health Justice Project)
“The safety and wellbeing of the Mexican community in Kansas is a priority that we share with the highest authorities of the state, and we welcome Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of the bill because of its potential implications,” the statement said.
Kelly’s veto of the bill was overturned by the Kansas Legislature in late April. The Democratic Party governor had said that House Bill 2350 was “the product of a rushed process” and would have “unintended consequences, from decimating our agriculture workforce to allowing the state to encroach into Kansans’ personal lives.”
“You just have to look at basic examples: If a good Samaritan gives his or her fellow Kansan a ride to work and receives gas money in exchange — or if a paramedic, while on duty, transports someone to the emergency room — they could be subject to level-five felonies,” Kelly said April 24.
“That overcriminalization is unnecessary and shows that lawmakers haven’t considered the full impact of this bill.”
The SRE again expressed its respect for “state legislative initiatives” in the U.S., “but, at the same time, the Foreign Ministry’s North America Unit will intensify its efforts to provide accurate and timely information to the Mexican community, and ensure respect for their rights and recognition of all of the contributions they make on a daily basis both in the state [of Kansas] and throughout the U.S.”
New Aeromexico nonstop flights between Mexico City and Rome have created the first direct connection between the two cities since the collapse of the Alitalia airline in 2021. (airlinesfleet.com)
An estimated 200,000 Italian tourists will arrive in the country next year thanks to the new Aeroméxico flights between Rome and Mexico City, Mexican ambassador to Italy Carlos García de Alba told reporters at a Tuesday press conference.
The Mexican airline has operated a daily flight between the two cities since June. The route was formerly operated by defunct Italian carrier Alitalia, which collapsed in 2021.
A sign of greater interest in Mexico? Italians are also drinking more tequila, with the country moving into sixth place in global consumption of the Mexican spirit. (Francisco Galarza/Unsplash)
“The new flights between Rome and Mexico City are overcrowded and are registering a higher volume of passengers than those from European capitals such as London or Paris,” García de Alba said.
He also said that 2024 will see a “strong transversal program,” involving 18 activities to commemorate the 150-year anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and Mexico, which began on Dec. 15, 1874.
García de Alba said that Italy is the sixth largest per capita consumer of tequila, owing to a 50% spike in consumption during 2022. The increase raised Italian imports to 2.7 million liters, surpassing Australia and Canada for the first time.
In May, Mexico’s Tourism Ministry awarded the Val’Quirico development in Tlaxcala — a tourist attraction that recreates an Italian medieval village — the newly created title of Kingdom of Mexico for promoting the Italian regions of Tuscany and Umbria, as well as Segovia in Spain.
Val’Quirico is a hybrid residential and tourist complex modeled on medieval European construction as would be found in parts of Italy. (Val’Quirico)
Luigi de Chiara, the Italian ambassador to Mexico, highlighted that Val’Quirico promotes Italian lifestyle, culture, history and tourism, as it invites visitors to visit “the original places” in Italy.
Aside from tourism and Mexican imports, the Italian government has also supported Mexican authorities in repatriating stolen artifacts. Italy will also welcome the arrival of the Mexican navy ship Cuauhtémoc in Naples on July 29.
Eliza showing off a completed book. (Joseph Sorrentino)
Eliza Holliday is a bit of a throwback. She’s someone who still finds pleasure in the simple act of holding a book in her hands.
“I love books,” she said. “I like the act of opening a book, discovering something, absorbing information.”
Amor Amate works with many different kinds of books and paper, but the traditional amate is Holliday’s favorite. (Eliza Schulte Holliday/Facebook)
And she does much more than just open books. She makes them and teaches others how to do so as well.
A native of Chicago, Holliday is also a professional lettering artist.
“I took a [lettering] course in college,” she said. “I’ve always made my own greeting and business cards. I like making words look pretty. When I discovered calligraphy, that opened the door to art.”
Holliday has always had an interest in books. “I’ve been making books my whole life. The first one was for a boyfriend when I was 17.”
Coptic stitch is one of the oldest ways to bind books, dating from early Christian practices in Egypt. (Kenneth Cain)
She taught calligraphy for many years, including at the curiously named Camp Cheerio, a Boy Scout camp in North Carolina where calligraphy retreats are held twice a year. When not teaching classes, she took workshops to learn bookmaking.
“Calligraphy and books are an obvious marriage, and I learned bookmaking so I could hand-letter my own books,” she explained.
Holliday and her husband Kenneth Cain came to Mexico eight years ago.
“We spent a year in Guadalajara and then went on a six-month quest around Mexico before landing in Cholula,” she said.
Holliday now lives and works in San Francisco Acatepec, Cholula. (Tripadvisor)
They now live in San Francisco Acatepec, a pueblo in San Andrés Cholula, where she started Amor Amate, a name that combines amor, meaning “love,” with amate, a type of Mexican handmade paper she’s fallen in love with.
She discovered papel amate when she walked into a Hiperlumen (an art-store retail chain in Mexico) and saw the paper for sale.
Papel amate is made in San Pablito, a tiny village about 3.5 hours from Puebla city, usually from the bark of the jonote tree (Trema micrantha). The bark is first cooked and then pounded with a rock, then dried in the sun.
After learning about the paper, Holliday and Cain drove to San Pablito and went to some of the galleries there.
Amate paper drying in the sun. (Luis Fernando Orozco Madero/Wikimedia Commons)
“People there are very open to the public,” she said.
She’s formed a close connection with the Santos Rojas family, who own the gallery Artesanía, and visits regularly to replenish her stock.
“Amate is very fragile, so you have to back it up with Japanese rice paper or some other paper,” she said. She also uses paste paper to make her books, and acid-free paper for the pages inside.
She teaches six different bookmaking workshops, including ones on making accordion-fold books, origami books and Coptic journals.
Amate was originally used by Mexico’s Indigenous people to record events or present offerings to the gods. In the mid-20th century, it began to be used for artisan works. (Wikimedia Commons)
“Classes are [for] one day and [they are] four hours long,” she said. “In class, the first book you make is an instruction book on how to make the book. Then you get all the materials needed to make a bigger book, and you leave with two books.”
On the day I visited her, Holliday was working on a Coptic journal, binding the papers with what’s known as a Coptic stitch.
“The Coptic stitch is one of the most ancient binding techniques of mankind,” she said, explaining that it was invented around A.D. 200 by an early Christian group in Egypt.
Using a thick, curved needle, Holliday gently pierced the book’s paper, making a series of stitches that formed a chain, a trademark of the Coptic stitch. One benefit of this technique is that a book can lay flat when opened.
Holliday also holds bookmaking classes for those interested in learning the craft. (Kenneth Cain)
When asked how long it would take to make a book like the one she was working on, Holliday admitted she didn’t know.
“I never sit down and just complete a book,” she said. “I just work on them as I can work on them. Stitch by stitch, folio by folio.”
It may seem a little old-fashioned to put photos in a book since a book can hold a limited, rather small, number of photos while a cell phone or computer can hold thousands, but there’s something special about having just a few photos in a book, says customer Martha Cabrera, who recently bought a book from Holliday to give to her son and his girlfriend to use as a photo album for their first child.
“In a book, you only put in the most special photos,” she said. “You spend more time with each photo, and it brings back more memories. I like the book I bought from Eliza because it is made by hand. It is artisanal and unique.”
Holliday holds classes at the Jardín Etnobotánico Francisco Peláez Roldan in Cholula — although they’re briefly on hold due to construction work in the botanical garden.
“The classes are on demand,” she said. “There’s probably a two-person minimum, a maximum of 15.” Classes cost 400 pesos.
Holliday also takes commissions, designing photo and sign-in books for weddings, births and other occasions. She’s also coauthored books on calligraphy with Marilyn Reaves under the name Eliza Holliday and Eliza Schulte, available at johnnealbooks.com.
As Holliday showed me her various books and papers, I noticed that she handled them gently, almost caressing them. “All things handmade are important,” she said. “People want to touch and feel things.”
Joseph Sorrentino is a writer, photographer and playwright who currently lives in Chipilo, Mexico. More articles, stories and photographs may be found at his Substack account.
Safran is one of the world's largest producers of jet engines, providers to popular aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. (Safran)
French aerospace equipment manufacturer Safran Group has announced a multimillion-dollar investment in the state of Querétaro, according to an announcement made by Governor Mauricio Kuri at the Paris Air Show, which ended on June 25.
With a further investment of US $80 million, the company will expand two of its plants in the country and build a new one to house an aircraft engine test bench.
The Safran facility in Chihuahua is the largest producer of airliner wiring in the world. (Christel Sasso/CAPA Pictures/Safran)
The new SAESA Testcell project is part of the Safran/GE-owned CFM jet engine division, which supplies engines to both the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320, the world’s two best-selling aircraft. The company was previously best known for providing the engines for supersonic passenger aircraft Concorde.
The expansion will create 800 new jobs in maintenance, production, innovation, development and R&D, Kuri said.
“We are very proud and really appreciate the support of Querétaro in helping us expand our capacity,” said Safran CEO Jean-Paul Alary.
Kuri added that Safran México is interested in continuing its support of government educational programs and projects that strengthen the competitiveness of the company and of Querétaro.
The manufacturing process for the front axle of an Airbus A380, the world’s largest airliner, also built by Safran. (Adrien Daste/Safran)
“Thank you [Safran] for trusting in our state,” Kuri wrote on Twitter.
Safran, which arrived in Querétaro 16 years ago, is the largest employer in Mexico’s aeronautical industry, with 11,000 employees across 17 production, maintenance, and engineering sites. In Chihuahua, it operates the world’s largest center for manufacturing aircraft electrical wiring.
Querétaro is a hub for aerospace manufacturing in Mexico. As of 2022, it had received 50% of all foreign direct investment in the industry over the last decade and ranked as the world’s eighth most competitive region in the aeronautical sector, offering more than 355 products and services to the global aerospace industry.
Remittances to Mexico in May set a record since amounts began being tracked in 1995. (UNAM)
Remittances to Mexico hit a new monthly record of just under US $5.7 billion in May although the strength of the Mexican peso in recent weeks and months is softening the impact of money sent home by workers living abroad.
Most of the money sent to Mexico in remittances comes from the United States, where millions of Mexicans live and work.
Mexican workers in the United States make up the majority of people sending remittances to Mexico. (Ryan Hagerty/Wikimedia Commons)
The Bank of Mexico (Banxico) reported Monday that $5.69 billion in remittances flowed into the country in May, an increase of 10.7% compared to the same month of 2022.
The dollar amount for May is the highest for any month since remittance records were first kept in 1995. The previous record was $5.36 billion, set in October last year.
The month-over-month increase in remittances was 13.8%, with Mother’s Day on May 10 helping to boost inflows of money from Mexicans working abroad, according to analysts at the Monex financial group and the banks BBVA and Banco Base.
“Mexican migrants … send additional amounts of money this month so that women who are mothers … can buy a present or save the money,” said BBVA México senior analyst Juan José Li Ng.
A stronger peso means less money for recipients who depend on remittances to contribute to their monthly budget. (Margarito Pérez Retana/Cuartoscuro)
Banxico data shows that the almost $5.7 billion in remittances sent to Mexico in May came via 14.6 million separate transactions, a 7.4% increase compared to the number registered in the same month of 2022. The average amount sent was $391, a 3.1% jump from a year earlier.
The dollar-peso exchange rate in May 2022 fluctuated from just above to just below 20. At 20 pesos to the greenback, the same $391 remittance is worth a more appealing 7,820 pesos.
With a stronger peso, the recipients of remittances — families primarily, albeit not exclusively — have less money to spend in Mexico, unless remitters increase the amounts they wire to offset the strengthening of the local currency.
Alberto Ramos, head of Latin America economics at Goldman Sachs, acknowledged that “a strong peso hurts remittances,” and said that remittances — once converted to pesos —actually declined 2.2% annually in May.
He also said that the strength of remittances in US dollars is indicative of “a very solid U.S. labor market and visible wage gains in activities and in skill-levels where Mexican citizens are disproportionately represented.”
Analysts at the Monex financial firm recently noted that remittances from abroad between January and May 2022 contributed more to Mexico’s economy than agriculture and oil exports combined. (Agriculture Ministry)
Even as a strengthening peso eats into the total amounts of money that ends up in the pockets of those receiving payments from abroad, the importance of remittances to the Mexican economy remains significant.
Central bank data shows that $24.67 billion was sent to Mexico in the first five months of the year, a 10.3% increase compared to the January-May period of 2022. Analysts at the financial firm Monex noted that the amount is higher than the combined value of Mexican agricultural and oil exports in the same period.
Based on the data for the first five months of the year, Mexico is on track to exceed the calendar year record of $58.51 billion in remittances that was set in 2022. Mexico was the second largest recipient of remittances last year behind India, which had inflows of some $100 billion.
Analysts at Banco Base increased their forecast for remittances to Mexico in 2023 to $63.26 billion from a $62.88 billion prediction in April because many remitters are sending larger amounts to compensate for high, albeit falling, inflation and the current dollar-peso exchange rate. One greenback was worth just above 17 pesos on Tuesday morning.
Banxico reported that remittances in the 12 months to the end of May totaled $60.8 billion, a record high for a period of that length.
President López Obrador frequently describes Mexicans who work abroad and send money home as “heroes.”
President López Obrador is so aware of remittances’ importance to Mexico’s economy that in May, he created a way for nationals abroad to send money home to social welfare recipients at a lower cost than through money-transfer services. (Presidencia)
During an address on Saturday to mark the fifth anniversary of his 2018 election victory, he said that 12 million Mexican families were benefiting from remittances, many of whom live in “the country’s poorest and most marginalized communities.”
“I thank our compatriots [abroad] for their help in the most difficult moments of the pandemic,” López Obrador said.
“… A migrant proudly said to me: ‘Mr. President, don’t forget that we left Mexico, but Mexico never left us,” he added.
The first cars for the Maya Train project have left the factory, but are taking more than twice as long to transport as originally anticipated. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
The first four cars of the Maya Train have left the factory where they were produced and are currently on route to Cancún, but the delivery is already facing delays.
Javier May, general director of the National Fund for Tourism Promotion (Fonatur), announced at President López Obrador’s Monday press conference that the convoy had departed the factory in Ciudad Sahagún, Hidalgo, at 5 a.m. that morning.
The convoy is only making progress at 90 km per day, rather than the projected 300 km. (Tren Maya/Twitter)
“The first four-car train left the Alstom [the manufacturing company contracted to build the carriages] plant a moment ago and is on its way to the workshop and garage in Cancún,” May said. “It will arrive on July 8 for assembly and the start of static tests.”
May’s statement was in keeping with the scheduleannounced last month. According to that schedule, the cars will start dynamic tests on the railroad between Cancún and Mérida in mid-August.
Alstom has committed to delivering another two cars in August and 13 in December. The Maya Train will have 42 carriages in total, the rest of which will be delivered over the course of next year.
According to Maité Ramos, general director of Alstom Mexico, the cars are being manufactured entirely in Mexico, with 72% Mexican materials. Each four will have the capacity to carry 230 passengers.
The stock will be transported via road from Hidalgo to Cancún, where it will undergo testing. (Tren Maya/Twitter)
During the press conference on Monday, May stressed that the train is “comfortable, modern, safe and the result of great coordination.” He thanked the companies and agencies involved and insisted that the Maya Train is still on track tobegin operations on Dec 1.
Diego Prieto Hernández, general director of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), alsospoke optimistically about the archaeological rescue work that has accompanied the project, which isnow almost complete.
“[While] there is already a Maya Train,” there is also “memory, identity and recovery of our ancestry,” Prieto said.
By Tuesday, however, President López Obrador admitted that the complexity of transporting the cars was likely to delay the delivery.
President López Obrador had been planning to inspect the Maya Train’s first carriages this weekend in Quintana Roo, but he acknowledged Tuesday that they won’t likely arrive on time. (Galo Cañas Rodríguez/Cuartoscuro)
“It is not yet on the tracks; it was calculated that it was going to advance 300 km a day and it barely advanced 90,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to come on Saturday.”
At a rate of 90 kilometers per day, the cars would complete the 1,582 kilometers from Ciudad Sahagún to Cancún on July 17.
The Maya Train has already faced multiple delays, due both to technical difficulties and legal injunctions. On Monday, the Defense Ministry, which administers the project, reported that construction on the track’s Section 5 North and Sections 6 and 7 is only 20% complete.
The project is also hugely over budget. Costs ran to 186.28 billion pesos (US $10.93 billion) in 2022 — nearly three times the 64.86 billion pesos (US $3.8 billion) projected. In 2023, the project had nearly reached its annual budget of 143.73 billion pesos (US $8.43 billion) by the end of the first quarter.
Despite this, AMLO remained upbeat on Tuesday about progress on the Maya Train. The delay in the arrival of the cars to Cancún “doesn’t make it late,” he insisted.
The President made headlines Monday when he announced that Senator Xóchitl Gálvez is the chosen Va Por México presidential candidate, despite the official selection process not having begun. (Santiago Alba Ibarra/Wikimedia Commons)
President López Obrador claimed Monday that Senator Xóchitl Gálvez has already been chosen as the 2024 presidential candidate for the main opposition parties, even though the PAN-PRI-PRD bloc’s official selection process hasn’t even started.
Speaking at his morning press conference, López Obrador asserted that the Va por México opposition alliance selected National Action Party Senator Gálvez as its candidate as long as a month ago.
At his Monday press conference, the president displayed a cartoon with caricatures of Gálvez, front right, posing with important figures in the Va por México coalition, including ex-president Vicente Fox, front left, and businessman Claudio X González, back right. (Presidencia)
The president alleged that a “process of consultation” led by businessman Claudio X. González was carried out in which “those who don’t show their faces” were asked who should represent the three-party coalition at the June 2, 2024 election.
AMLO repeated his assertion that Gónzalez is the person ultimately in charge of the opposition alliance, which announced last week that it was forming a grouping called the Frente Amplio por México (Broad Front for Mexico) to support its ambition to seize the presidency from Morena.
“I have all the information that consultations were carried out so that Xóchitl Gálvez [would] represent this group. … [The participants were] those who provide money for the campaigns, for the dirty war, … the owners of media outlets, … the intellectuals,” López Obrador said.
Some would-be aspirants to the opposition parties’ presidential candidacy decided to pull out due to Gálvez’s designation, he claimed.
Gálvez expresses pride about her Indigenous roots, seen in this family picture she posted recently on Facebook. AMLO said it was one of the reasons she was supposedly picked as the Va por México candidate. (Xóchitl Gálvez/Facebook)
“And why decide in favor of Xóchitl? Because they suppose that if she was born in a pueblo [town] she’ll have the support of the pueblo [people],” López Obrador said.
The senator, a former mayor of the Mexico City borough of Miguel Hidalgo, was born into a family of modest means in Tepatepec, Hidalgo. She is an indigenous Otomí woman and first-term senator and ran as a candidate for governor in her home state in 2010.
López Obrador asserted that Gálvez is “not of the people” but rather “part of the conservatives.”
“Why Xóchitl?” he asked again. “… Because she worked with [former president Vicente] Fox, she was director of the indigenous institute,” López Obrador said, adding sarcastically that she has “well-defined convictions in favor of poor people.”
Before she was elected a senator in 2018, Gálvez was the borough mayor of Miguel Hidalgo in Mexico City. (Victoria Valtierra Ruvalcaba/Cuartoscuro)
“The only election she has won … was for the borough chief of Miguel Hidalgo, where the richest people of Mexico live … and they’re the ones who are supporting her now,” he said.
Gálvez, who declared last week that she would become Mexico’s next president, responded to the president in a video message posted to social media.
“Mr. President, you say that so-and-so is going to install me as candidate because you can’t conceive that a strong and capable woman can win a position in politics for herself,” she said.
“You can’t imagine a woman getting a candidacy by her own merits because you, Mr. President, are sexist. The only women you respect are those you appoint because men like you are afraid of an independent and intelligent woman,” Gálvez added.
“In my life, no one has ever gifted me anything. And from you I only want one thing — that you respect me. You are going to give me the presidential sash, and I’m going to receive it with a broad smile,” she said.
The senator claimed in a media interview that López Obrador’s aim was to encourage criticism of her.
“He slanders me because it will trigger a wave of hate. They’re going to try to destroy me, discredit me,” Gálvez said, perhaps referring to pro-AMLO social media users.
She reiterated that her achievements in politics are a result of her “own merit” and said that it was “regrettable” that “the president doesn’t respect women.”
Galvez is known for camera-friendly stunts. When he accused her in a press conference of wanting to take away seniors’ pensions, she arrived at the National Palace to refute his statements. In December, she protested the now-revoked “Plan B” electoral reform legislation by protesting what she called a “Jurassic Plan” by attending the session in a dinosaur costume. (Cuartoscuro)
“… I’ve always had to fight with men like the president. I’ve encountered many of his kind in my life, but fortunately I’ve gotten on in the world,” Gálvez said.
The first stage of the Va por México candidate selection process – in which aspirants will be required to officially register their interest in becoming “the personal responsible for the construction” of the Broad Front and collect signatures demonstrating a minimum threshold of support – starts Tuesday. Around a dozen people remain committed to participating in the process.
The winner is scheduled to be announced Sept. 3 following a polling process and a “direct” vote in which citizens who have registered with the three-party alliance will be permitted to cast ballots.
The ruling Morena party is set to announce its new standard bearer on Sept. 6 following its own polling process in which six aspirants are participating. Polls show that former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum is the leading aspirant in that contest.
I remember a time not so long ago when foreigners were skeptical of alcoholic beverages made in Mexico, but today, they are taking the world by storm – from handcrafted mezcal, to bestselling Modelo beer to award-winning Baja California wines.
Let’s start with Mexican beer. About ten years ago, I started seeing Corona beer at hot spots in cities around the world. Corona – via its outstanding marketing – created a “coolness” surrounding their product. Which other beer transported you to a hammock on a beautiful sandy beach? Corona’s branding propelled it to the top spot in the import beer market globally. In the process, Corona introduced many people around the world to Mexico in a very positive way – via its renowned beaches.
Corona has been one of Mexico’s best-selling beers globally. (igorgolovniov/Depositphotos)
Since then, many other Mexican beers have done extremely well. Modelo is now the top- selling beer in the United States, Sol and Pacífico are widely available around the globe, and many Mexican microbrews (like Allende beer and Tulum beer) are growing in popularity.
Tequila is another runaway success story. In the past, many outside of Mexico associated tequila with poor quality, cheap plastic bottles and bad hangovers. But today, tequila is the top-selling spirit globally. The world has fallen in love with margaritas and it seems every celebrity has their own tequila brand: George Clooney, Michael Jordan, The Rock, and Kendall Jenner, just to name a few.
Mezcal is the next frontier. Until recently, mezcal was relatively unknown. It too suffered from an initial perception of poor quality. I remember years ago, touring my first mezcal plant, the guide told us that the locals in the mountains drank mezcal to stay warm at night – not exactly a great marketing pitch! Today, mezcal is quickly following the growth path of tequila, though it is a more artisanal product than tequila, is often priced as a premium product, and is attracting its own flock of celebrities.
CNBC’s Jim Cramer recently launched his own mezcal brand, for example, and talks at length about his passion for the spirit. Mezcal aficionados everywhere are popping up and raving about the variety and complexity of different strains of agave.
The two stars of Breaking Bad enjoying their own mezcal. (Dos Hombres/Instagram)
Mexican wine is a very exciting segment to follow that I believe is poised for significant growth. Throughout my global travels and fine dining experiences, I can say that I essentially never saw a Mexican wine on a menu. Until recently, the industry had pretty neatly divided up the vast majority of the wine world as: Old World (Europe), New world (Argentina/Chile), and Others (Australia / New Zealand). Mexico wasn’t on the map. However, little by little, Mexico’s Baja California peninsula quietly began to win some prestigious awards and start to get the attention of the wine world.
Entrepreneurs in Mexico’s Bajío region quietly began making significant investments in vineyards throughout Guanajuato and Querétaro – just in the past decade alone, the amount of vineyards around San Miguel de Allende has gone from three to 23. Even states like Coahuila and San Luis Potosí started seeing growth in the segment. Today, Mexican wines are winning awards at top wine events and appearing on menus around the world. I believe that we are in the very early innings still of what will happen in this market.
So what does all of this mean? We see how in a short period of time the Mexican alcoholic beverage market has completely transformed. This Mexican industry has gone from being perceived as a bad joke, to the envy of the world. I think it’s a great example of the transformation – and there are others that I will write about – that “brand Mexico” is having on a global stage. In my opinion, it couldn’t be a more exciting time to be an investor or entrepreneur in the country. Mexico is increasingly cool on the world stage, and in part we have tequila and beer to thank for that.
